taboo

taboo

English

Alternative forms

• tabu, tapu

Etymology

Borrowed from Tongan tapu (“prohibited, sacred”), from Proto-Polynesian *tapu, from Proto-Oceanic *tabu, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *tambu. Doublet of kapu. First attested in c. 1777.

The p in the Tongan source was misheard as b.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /təˈbuː/, /tæˈbuː/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uː

Noun

taboo (countable and uncountable, plural taboos)

1. An inhibition or ban that results from social custom or emotional aversion.
   • 1922, James Frazer, The Golden Bough:

     So among the Alfoors of the island of Buru it is taboo to mention the names of parents and parents-in-law, or even to speak of common objects by words which resemble these names in sound.

   • 1974, Lawrence Durrell, Monsieur, Faber & Faber 1992, p. 213:

     The sharp differentiation of the sexes in our culture was shaped most probably by monogamy and monosexuality and their tabus.

   • 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light:Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, page 12:

     For a structuralist like Edmund Leach, the structure is the meaning. Genesis, for example, is about incest taboos; all the rest is noise and mystification.

2. (in Polynesia) Something which may not be used, approached or mentioned because it is sacred.

Translations

inhibition or ban

Armenian: տաբու (hy) (tabu) Bulgarian: табу n (tabu) Catalan: tabú Chinese: Mandarin: 避忌 (zh) (bìjì), 禁忌 (zh) (jìnjì), 忌諱／忌讳 (zh) (jìhuì) Czech: tabu n Danish: tabu n Dutch: taboe (nl) n Esperanto: tabuo (eo) Estonian: tabu (et) Finnish: tabu (fi) French: tabou (fr) m German: Tabu (de) n Greek: ταμπού (el) n (tampoú) Hungarian: tabu (hu) Ido: tabu (io) Indonesian: tabu (id) Italian: tabù (it) m Japanese: タブー (ja) (tabū), 禁忌 (ja) (きんき, kinki), 禁止 (ja) (kinshi) (general prohibition) Kikuyu: mũgiro class 3 Korean: 금기 (ko) (geumgi), 터부 (teobu) Latvian: tabu m Lithuanian: tabu Malay: pantang (ms) Marshallese: mo̧ Persian: تابو‎ (fa) (tâbu) Polish: tabu (pl) n Portuguese: tabu (pt) m Russian: табу́ (ru) n (tabú) Serbo-Croatian: tabu (sh) m Slovak: tabu n Spanish: tabú (es) m Sundanese: pamali (su) Swahili: tambiko (sw) Swedish: tabu (sv) n Tagalog: kabawalan Tongan: tapu Turkish: tabu (tr) sg Yiddish: טאַבו‎ (tabu)

in Polynesia: something which may not be used

Catalan: tabú Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Fijian: tabu Finnish: tabu (fi) Hawaiian: kapu Maori: tapu (mi) Portuguese: tabu (pt) m Rapa Nui: tapu Russian: please add this translation if you can Samoan: tapu Spanish: tabú (es) m Swahili: tambiko (sw) Tok Pisin: tambu Tongan: tapu

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Ancient Greek: (please verify) ἄγος n (ágos) French: (please verify) tabou (fr) m (2) Latin: (please verify) sacer (la) m Maori: (please verify) ārai

Adjective

taboo (comparative more taboo, superlative most taboo)

1. Excluded or forbidden from use, approach or mention.

   Incest is a taboo subject in most soap operas.

2. Culturally forbidden.

Translations

excluded or forbidden from use, approach or mention

Bulgarian: забранен (bg) (zabranen) Catalan: tabú Chinese: Mandarin: 避忌的 (zh) (bìjì de), 禁忌的 (zh) (jìnjì de), 忌諱的／忌讳的 (zh) (jìhuì de) Finnish: tabu (fi) French: tabou (fr) m, taboue (fr) f German: tabu (de) Indonesian: tabu (id) Japanese: 禁忌の (ja) (kinki no), 禁制の (ja) (kinsei no) Portuguese: tabu (pt) Rapa Nui: tapu Russian: please add this translation if you can Spanish: tabú (es) Sundanese: pamali (su) Swahili: tambiko (sw) Tongan: tapu

Verb

taboo (third-person singular simple present taboos, present participle tabooing, simple past and past participle tabooed)

1. To mark as taboo.
2. To ban.
3. To avoid.

Translations

mark as taboo

Chinese: Mandarin: 忌諱／忌讳 (zh) (jìhuì) Finnish: merkitä tabuksi German: tabuisieren (de) Italian: tabuizzare Japanese: 禁忌する (ja) (kinki suru), タブーにする (ja) (tabū ni suru), 禁止する (ja) (kinshi suru) Russian: табуи́ровать (ru) impf or pf (tabuírovatʹ) Spanish: please add this translation if you can Swahili: tambiko (sw) Swedish: tabuera Tongan: please add this translation if you can Ukrainian: табуювати (tabujuvaty)

ban

Chinese: Mandarin: 禁止 (zh) (jìnzhǐ) Finnish: kieltää (fi) German: tabuisieren (de) Japanese: 禁止する (ja) (kinshi) Russian: please add this translation if you can Spanish: please add this translation if you can Swahili: tambiko (sw) Tongan: please add this translation if you can

avoid

Chinese: Mandarin: 忌諱／忌讳 (zh) (jìhuì), 避免 (zh) (bìmiǎn) Czech: tabuizovat Finnish: välttää (fi) German: tabuisieren (de) Japanese: 排斥する (ja) (haiseki suru) Russian: please add this translation if you can Spanish: please add this translation if you can Swahili: tambiko (sw) Tongan: please add this translation if you can

Anagrams

• aboot