fetish

WOTD - 8 October 2008    

English

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• fetich (dated [18^th C.–present])

Etymology

From French fétiche, from Portuguese feitiço, from Latin factīcius (“artificial”)

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) enPR: fĕtʹĭsh, IPA: /ˈfɛt.ɪʃ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

fetish (plural fetishes)

1. Something which is believed to possess, contain, or cause spiritual or magical powers; an amulet or a talisman. [from the early 17th c.]
2. Something sexual or nonsexual, such as an object or a part of the body which arouses sexual desire or is necessary for one to reach full sexual satisfaction. [from the early 19th c.]
3. (US) An irrational, or abnormal fixation or preoccupation. [from the 19th c.]
   • 1933: We have a feeling that it must be "honest" work, because it is hard and disagreeable, and we have made a sort of fetish of manual work. -- George Orwell, Down and Out in Paris and London, Ch. XXII, pg. 117 (Harvest / Harcourt paperback edition).

Related terms

• fetishism
• fetishist
• fetishistic
• fetishlike
• fetishize
• fetishwear

Translations

something nonsexual which arouses sexual desire

Chinese: Mandarin: 物神 (zh) (wùshén) Czech: fetiš (cs) Finnish: fetišši (fi), fetissi (fi) French: fétiche (fr) m. German: Fetisch (de) m. Hungarian: fétis (hu)

Japanese: フェティシズム (ja) (fetishizumu), フェチ (ja) (fechi), フェティッシュ (ja) (fetisshu) Polish: fetysz (pl) m. Russian: фетиш (ru) (fetíš) m. Serbian: фетиш (sr) Spanish: fetiche (es) m. Swedish: fetisch (sv) c. Turkish: fetiş (tr)

something believed to possess spiritual or magical powers

Finnish: taikakalu (fi), fetišši (fi), fetissi (fi) French: fétiche (fr) m. Hungarian: bálvány (hu), fétis (hu) Polish: fetysz (pl) m. Portuguese: fetiche (pt) m.

Russian: фетиш (ru) (fetíš) m. Serbian: фетиш (sr) Spanish: fetiche (es) m. Turkish: fetiş (tr)

irrational or abnormal fixation

Finnish: päähänpinttymä (fi) French: fétiche (fr) m. Russian: фетиш (ru) (fetíš) m.

Serbian: фетиш (sr) Spanish: fetiche (es) m.