Etymologically
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fétiche

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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)