fetish

Where does the word "fetish" come from? It comes from Portuguese feitico, passing through French before entering English (1600s).

Fetish’s story begins in Portuguese: feitico meant “a charm or magical object.” An object believed to have magical power, from Latin facticius (artificial, made). By 1600s, the word had taken hold in French as fetiche. Carried into French through accounts of West African religious objects. It reached English by 1600s as fetish. Settled as the English word, later broadened to any object of obsessive focus. Today, fetish means an object of excessive or irrational devotion or focus.

1. Stage 1 · Portuguese · 1400s feitico "a charm or magical object", an object believed to have magical power, from Latin facticius (artificial, made).
2. Stage 2 · French · 1600s fetiche "an object believed to hold spiritual power", carried into French through accounts of West African religious objects.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1600s fetish "an object of obsessive attention or reverence", settled as the English word, later broadened to any object of obsessive focus.