Where does “fetish” come from?
Fetish comes from French fétiche, from Portuguese feitiço meaning an artificial or contrived object, from Latin facticius, derived from facere meaning to make or do, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European dʰeh₁-.
fetish (English): Something which is believed to possess, contain,...
Definitions
- Something which is believed to possess, contain,...
Ancestry of “fetish”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | fétiche | fetish, idol; amulet; fetish |
| 2 | Portuguese | feitiço | feigned, false; witchcraft, sorcery; amulet,... |
| 3 | Latin | factīcius | made by art, artificial, factitious |
| 4 | Latin | factus | done, made, having been done or made; became |
| 5 | Latin | faciō | to do |
| 6 | Latin | -torium | nominative neuter singular of -tōrius; accusative... |
| 7 | Latin | -tōrius | ory |
| 8 | Latin | -tor | -er |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | -tōr | Forms agent nouns to verb stems |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -tōr | Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone... |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | -tor-s | — |