Excessive and irrational commitment to or obsession with a particular thing, idea, or practice. In broader usage, it refers to the attribution of magical or spiritual powers to inanimate objects.
From Portuguese 'feitiço,' meaning 'charm' or 'sorcery,' derived from Latin 'factitius' (artificial). Portuguese traders used this term to describe West African religious objects, and it evolved to mean any obsessive attachment to objects or ideas.
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