Etymologically
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fétiche

Etymology and origin of the French word fétiche

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1605, Pieter de Marees (translation), fetisso
Borrowed from
Portuguese feitiço
Ultimate origin
Latin (factīcius)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French fétiche
English fetish

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /fe.tiʃ/[1]

Forms

fétiche m (plural fétiches)[1] Fetisso (1605), fetiche (1669).[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Portuguese feitiço (“charm, amulet; artificial”) (from the 15th century), first through a translation from Dutch,[2][3][4][1][5] from Latin factīcius (“artificial”), the source of factice.[2][3][6][1] Compare Spanish hechizo in both senses and Old French “faitis” “well made”.[4][7]

Littré first tied the Portuguese word to fée, then corrected this in his Supplement.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The French translation of Pieter de Marees's description of Guinea (1605) speaks of the people's Idoles ou Fetissos, their idols.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Fétiche was first the name Europeans gave to the cult objects of the peoples of the West African coast.[3][8][7] Charles de Brosses's Du culte des dieux fétiches (1760) coined fétichisme for this worship.[4][3]

In the 19th century it came to mean any object thought to bring luck, and figuratively something revered without judgement; in apposition numéro fétiche is a lucky number.[3][9][10] In psychoanalysis (20th century) a fétiche is the object of a fetishist's desire, after Alfred Binet's use of fétichisme for the perversion (1906).[3] In African French faire fétiche is to cast spells, and the féticheur (1893) is a sorcerer.[3]

Timeline

  • 15th century – Portuguese feitiço “spell, amulet”.[2][3]
  • 1605 – Fetissos “idols”.[2][3]
  • 1669 – Fetiche (Villault).[2][3]
  • 1756–1760 – Fétichisme (de Brosses).[3][4]
  • 1762 – First recorded by the Académie.[2]
  • 1893 – Féticheur.[3]
  • 1906 – Fétichisme as a sexual perversion (Binet).[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An object of worship believed to hold supernatural power; a fetish.[8][1]
  2. An object or animal thought to bring luck; a mascot, talisman.[8][10]
  3. (psychology) The object of sexual fetishism.[3][1]

Adjective

  1. Lucky, favourite: numéro fétiche.[10][1]

Word family

  • féticher
  • fétichiser
  • fétichisme
  • fétichiste

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 359a
  6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Borrowed into

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Fétiche.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/f%C3%A9tiche. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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