fetishismn.
/ˈfɛtᵻʃɪz(ə)m/, U.S. /ˈfɛdᵻʃˌɪzəm/ 1.
a. The worship of fetishes; an instance of this; the superstition of which this is the characteristic feature.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > kinds of worship > [noun] > of inanimate object
fetishism1801
1801 W. Taylor in Monthly Mag. 2 646 He detects everywhere fetishism or the worship of tools.
1846 G. Grote Hist. Greece I. i. xvi. 462 An original fetichism in which particular objects had themselves been supposed to be endued with life.
1853 C. Kingsley Hypatia II. xv. 365 Dabbling in magic, astrology, and barbarian fetichisms.
Categories »
b. Economics. (See commodity fetishism n. at commodity n. Compounds 3.)
2. Psychology. A form of sexual behaviour, often resulting from earlier repression, in which desire is stimulated by, or has as its goal, some kind of inanimate object (often shoes, rubber, or underclothes), or a particular non-sexual part of the body (feet, hair, etc.), or the performance of certain non-sexual actions.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > types of sexual behaviour > [noun] > sexual fetishism
fetishism1897
1897 H. Ellis & J. A. Symonds Sexual Inversion vi. 129 The view that sexual inversion is..explained by..early association..seems to be supported by what we know of erotic fetishism, by which a woman's hair, or foot, or even clothing, becomes the focus of a man's sexual aspirations.
1954 R. M. Dorcus & G. W. Shaffer Textbk. Abnormal Psychol. (ed. 4) vii. 262 Fetishism is considered by some theorists to be a defense against fear of being rejected by a member of the opposite sex, hence the substitution of an object that cannot reject or a part of the body against which there is no prohibition.
1963 A. Heron Towards Quaker View of Sex 66 Fetishism involves the focussing of sexual attention upon an object or upon one part of the loved-one, instead of upon the whole person.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1895; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1801