fetish

Etymology

Borrowed from French fétiche, from Portuguese feitiço, from Latin factīcius (“artificial”). Doublet of factitious.

noun

1. Something which is believed to possess, contain, or cause spiritual or magical powers; an amulet or a talisman.
   The idols and fetishes were being dressed up and whitewashed, receiving sacrifices. 1958, Saul Bellow, Henderson the Rain King
2. Sexual attraction to or arousal at something abnormally sexual or nonsexual, such as an object or a nonsexual part of the body.
   I know a guy who has a foot fetish.
   a fetish for leather
3. An irrational, or abnormal fixation or preoccupation; an obsession.
   a fetish for deficit reduction