# fetish

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈfɛt.ɪʃ/ · frequency rank #13,149

## Definitions
1. Something which is believed to possess, contain, or cause spiritual or magical powers; an amulet or a talisman.
2. A figure representing the spirit of a deity, human, or animal; an idol or voodoo doll.
3. Sexual fixation to or arousal at something abnormally sexual or nonsexual, such as an object or a nonsexual part of the body.
4. An irrational or abnormal preoccupation or fixation on some object or activity; an obsession.
5. A recurrent theme of a specific thing.

## Etymology
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-der.
Proto-Indo-European *dʰh₁k-yé-ti
Proto-Italic *θakjō
Proto-Italic *fakjō
Latin faciō
Proto-Indo-European *-tós
Proto-Italic *-tos
Latin -tus
Latin factus
Latin -īcius
Latin factīcius
Portuguese feitiçobor.
French fétichebor.
English fetish
Borrowed from French fétiche, from Portuguese feitiço, from Latin factīcius (“artificial”). Doublet of factitious.

## Easily confused with
- **fish** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fetish-vs-fish)
- **fetus** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fetish-vs-fetus)
- **finish** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fetish-vs-finish)
- **Flemish** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fetish-vs-flemish)
- **fetch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fetch-vs-fetish)

## Common misspellings (9)
`eftish`, `feitsh`, `fetihs`, `fetishh`, `fetissh`, `fetsih`, `fettish`, `ffetish`, `fteish`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/fetish