Fetishises

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To attribute excessive significance and obsessive attention to an object, idea, or practice to the point of elevating its importance excessively
2. To ascribe extraordinary value and show an intense preoccupation with a specific object, concept, or behavior that surpasses usual regard
3. To excessively idolize or obsess over an object, idea, or behavior, often attributing them with a value that is disproportionately heightened

Etymology: This is an inflected form, so a brief note is what's needed: "fetishises" is the third-person singular present of "fetishise," the British spelling of "fetishize." The verb is built from "fetish" plus the suffix "-ise," which comes via Middle French "-iser" and Late Latin "-izare," ultimately from Ancient Greek "-izein," a verb-forming ending that turns a noun into an action, so that "to fetish" means to treat something as a fetish. The noun underneath it has a surprising origin. "Fetish" came into English from French "fétiche," which was borrowed from Portuguese "feitiço," meaning "charm" or "spell." Portuguese traders on the West African coast used the word for objects that local people revered as holding spiritual power. The Portuguese word itself derives from Latin "factīcius," "made by art," so an object's value was originally a matter of human manufacture, not inherent worth.

Synonyms: obsesses, idolizes, reveres

Antonyms: disregards, despises