Lexic.us

Definition of Fetish

1. Noun. A form of sexual desire in which gratification depends to an abnormal degree on some object or item of clothing or part of the body. "Common male fetishes are breasts, legs, hair, shoes, and underwear"

2. Noun. A charm superstitiously believed to embody magical powers.

3. Noun. Excessive or irrational devotion to some activity. "Made a fetish of cleanliness"

Definition of Fetish

1. n. See Fetich, n., Fetichism, n., Fetichistic, a.

Definition of Fetish

1. Noun. Something which is believed to possess, contain, or cause spiritual or magical powers; an amulet or a talisman. (defdate from the early 17th c.) ¹

2. Noun. 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. (defdate from the early 19th c.) ¹

3. Noun. (American English) An irrational, or abnormal fixation or preoccupation. (defdate from the 19th c.) ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Fetish

1. an object believed to have magical power [n -ES]

Medical Definition of Fetish

1. An inanimate object or nonsexual body part that is regarded as endowed with magic or erotic qualities. Origin: Fr. Fetiche, fr. L. Factitius, made by art, artificial (05 Mar 2000)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Fetish

fetid fetid bugbane fetid horehound fetider fetidest fetidities fetidity fetidly fetidness fetidnesses

fetids fetii feting fetiparous fetisely fetishes fetishisation fetishisations fetishise fetishised

fetishises fetishising fetishisms fetishistic fetishistically fetishists fetishizable

Literary usage of Fetish

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the by Charles George Herbermann, Edward Aloysius Pace, Condé Bénoist Pallen, Thomas Joseph Shahan, John Joseph Wynne (1913)
"The fetish is compounded in secret, with the accompaniment of drums, dancing, ... A fetish then, in the strict sense of the word, is any material object ..."

2. The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge: Embracing by Johann Jakob Herzog, Philip Schaff, Albert Hauck (1909)
"may become a fetish, the use of which may be indeterminate at the time but which is ... On another side the fetish is to be distinguished from charms, ..."

3. West African Studies by Mary Henrietta Kingsley (1901)
"CHAPTER VI SCHOOLS OF fetish Wherein the student, thinking things may be made clearer if it be perceived that there are divers schools of fetish, ..."

4. Lectures on the Origin and Growth of Religion as Illustrated by the by Friedrich Max Müller (1879)
"They could not hold the other view, that a fetish was, from the beginning, an emblem or symbol only, an outward sign or token of some power previously known ..."

5. The History of Religions by Edward Washburn Hopkins (1918)
"fetish AND IDOL fetishism is not a religion but the expression of a mental attitude. Fear and hope sway man. Taboo is the religious expression of fear; ..."

6. Travels in West Africa: Congo Francais, Corisco and Cameroons by Mary Henrietta Kingsley (1898)
"Since 1893 I have been collecting information in its native state regarding fetish, and I use the usual terms fetish and ju-ju because they have among us a ..."

7. The Classical World by Classical Association of the Atlantic States (1908)
"THE LATINITY fetish As a working definition, a "fetish" may be described as ... The contention of this paper is that the particular fetish mentioned in its ..."

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