fetish (fĕt`ĭsh), inanimate object believed to possess some magical power. The fetish may be a natural thing, such as a stone, a feather, a shell, or the claw of an animal, or it may be artificial, such as carvings in wood. The power of the fetish is thought to derive its efficacy from one of two sources. In some cases the object is said to have a will of its own; in others the source of power comes from the belief that a god dwells within the object and has transformed it into an instrument of his desires. Closely related to the idea of the power of a fetish is the notion of taboo taboo or tabu , prohibition of an act or the use of an object or word under pain of punishment. Originally a Polynesian word, taboo can apply to the sacred or consecrated or to the dangerous, unclean, and forbidden.
..... Click the link for more information. . Here the power within the fetish is thought to be so strong that it is extremely dangerous and may be handled only by special individuals, if at all. Any object of irrational or superstitious devotion may be called a fetish.

fetish

Object believed to have magical power to protect or aid its owner, and by extension, an object regarded with superstitious or extravagant trust or reverence. In the 18th century it was applied to West African amulets; it has also been used for various items in American Indian religion. In psychology, a fetish is an object that substitutes for a person as the focus of sexual desire. See also fetishism.

fetish, fetich

Anthropology something, esp an inanimate object, that is believed in certain cultures to be the embodiment or habitation of a spirit or magical powers

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No references found	This attic was Maggie's favorite retreat on a wet day, when the weather was not too cold; here she fretted out all her ill humors, and talked aloud to the worm-eaten floors and the worm-eaten shelves, and the dark rafters festooned with cobwebs; and here she kept a Fetish which she punished for all her misfortunes. The Mill on the Floss by Eliot, George View in context What is the fetish of the hour that all the bourgeoisie recognise - eh, Mr Verloc? The Secret Agent by Conrad, Joseph View in context He cast down the fetish of exercise, damning with the contemptuous word pot-hunters all those who devoted themselves to its various forms; and Philip did not realise that he was merely putting up in its stead the other fetish of culture. Of Human Bondage by Maugham, W. Somerset View in context	fetal asphyxia fetal cell therapy fetal fat-cell lipoma fetal hemoglobin fetal membrane fetal tissue implant fetch fetch ahead fetch bit fetch cycle fetch-execute cycle fetching Cerberus Fête Champêtre Fete de la Madeleine Fete des la Cuisinières Fete des Stes. Maries Fete des Vignerons feterita Feth Ali Shah Fethiye Feti, Domenico fetial Fetid Russula Fetis, Francois Joseph Fétis, François Joseph fetish Fetishism fetlock fetometamorphism Fetr Fetterman Massacre Fetterman, William Judd Fetti, Domenico fettling knife Fetus feu Feuchtwanger Feuchtwanger, Lion feud feudal land tenure Feudal Socialism Feudal War in Russia in the Second Quarter of the 15th Century Feudalism Feuerbach Feuerbach, Anselm Feuerbach, Anselm von Feuerbach, Ludwig Feuerbach, Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach, Paul Johann Anselm Feuerbach, Paul Johann Anselm von Feuermann, Emanuel	Feticism fetid fetid fetid fetid bugbane fetid horehound Fetid Russula Fetidity fetidly fetidly fetidly fetidness fetidness fetidness Fetiferous feting feting fêting fêting fetiparous Fetis Fetis, Francois Joseph Fetis, Francois Joseph Fétis, François Joseph Fétis, François Joseph Fetischism Fetischism Fetischism Fetischism Fetisely fetish Fetish Factory Fetish fetish Fetish fetish Fetish fetish Fetish fetish Fetish Lifestyles Open Group Fetishes Fetishes Fetishes Fetishes Fetishes fetishisation fetishise fetishised fetishises fetishising fetishism fetishism fetishism fetishism fetishism fetishist fetishist fetishist fetishist fetishist fetishistic fetishistic fetishistic fetishistic

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This attic was Maggie's favorite retreat on a wet day, when the weather was not too cold; here she fretted out all her ill humors, and talked aloud to the worm-eaten floors and the worm-eaten shelves, and the dark rafters festooned with cobwebs; and here she kept a Fetish which she punished for all her misfortunes.

The Mill on the Floss by Eliot, George View in context

What is the fetish of the hour that all the bourgeoisie recognise - eh, Mr Verloc?

The Secret Agent by Conrad, Joseph View in context

He cast down the fetish of exercise, damning with the contemptuous word pot-hunters all those who devoted themselves to its various forms; and Philip did not realise that he was merely putting up in its stead the other fetish of culture.

Of Human Bondage by Maugham, W. Somerset View in context

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fetish

fetish