Fetish
WordNet
noun
(1) Excessive or irrational devotion to some activity
"Made a fetish of cleanliness"
(2) A charm superstitiously believed to embody magical powers
(3) A form of sexual desire in which gratification depends to an abnormal degree on some object or item of clothing or part of the body
"Common male fetishes are breasts, legs, hair, shoes, and underwear"
WiktionaryText
Etymology
From < <
Noun
- Something nonsexual, such as an object or a part of the body which arouses sexual desire or is necessary for one to reach full sexual satisfaction.
- Something which is believed to possess, contain, or cause spiritual or magical powers; an amulet or a talisman.
- An irrational, or abnormal, fixation or preoccupation.
-
- 1933: We have a feeling that it must be "honest" work, because it is hard and disagreeable, and we have made a sort of fetish of manual work. -- George Orwell, Down and Out in Paris and London, Ch. XXII, pg. 117 (Harvest / Harcourt paperback edition).