What does fetiche mean?
'Fetiche' is a variant spelling of 'fetish', referring either to an object believed to possess supernatural power—such as an amulet or charm venerated in certain traditional religious practices—or, by extension, to anything toward which a person displays excessive, irrational devotion. The word entered European languages through Portuguese feitiço ('artificial, made by art'), which explorers applied to objects they encountered along the West African coast, and it passed into English via French. In modern usage the anglicized 'fetish' overwhelmingly predominates, covering both the anthropological sense and the psychological one relating to fixations and sexual preferences. Encountering 'fetiche' today usually signals either an older text, a deliberately French-flavoured style, or a writer preserving the source spelling. For general purposes, 'fetish' remains the standard choice across all its meanings.
nounA variant form of 'fetish': an object believed to have supernatural power, or an object, activity, or body part toward which a person has an excessive and irrational devotion or attachment.
- An inanimate object regarded as having magical or spiritual power, especially in certain traditional religious practices.
- (By extension) any object, idea, or activity to which a person is irrationally devoted.
"The explorer regarded the carved figure as a protective fetiche of the village."
"The traders described the amulets they purchased as fetiches endowed with protective power."
"Precision had become something of a fetiche for the young architect, who redrew every line a dozen times."
The plural follows standard English conventions; the French-style pronunciation is retained by many speakers.
"The museum's collection included several fetiches gathered during nineteenth-century expeditions."
Before it meant anything about desire, 'fetiche' came from Portuguese feitiço — 'artificial' or 'made by craft' — the same root that gave us 'feat' and 'artifice': a word that literally began as 'something man-made'.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of fetiche
'Fetiche' derives from Portuguese feitiço, meaning 'artificial' or 'made by craft', ultimately from Latin facticius ('made by art'), from facere ('to make'). Portuguese traders and explorers coined the term feitiço in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries to describe objects of veneration they encountered in West Africa, and the word entered French as fétiche before being adopted into English in the seventeenth century, sometimes in the French spelling. The same Latin root yields English cognates such as 'fetish', 'factitious', and 'artifice'.
Related word forms
How fetiche is actually used
'Fetiche' is considerably rarer than 'fetish' in modern English and may read as affected or archaic; most contemporary writing uses 'fetish' for all senses. The spelling preserves the direct French borrowing more visibly than the anglicized form.
Easily confused with fetiche
'Fetiche' is simply a rarer variant of 'fetish', borrowed directly from the French spelling; the two mean the same thing, but 'fetish' is by far the standard English form.
'Pastiche' means an artistic work imitating another's style, whereas 'fetiche' refers to an object of devotion; they rhyme but are unrelated in meaning.