taboo
/təˈbuː/ · noun
Meaning
- An inhibition or ban that results from social custom or emotional aversion.
- Something which may not be used, approached or mentioned because it is sacred.
- Excluded or forbidden from use, approach or mention.
- Culturally forbidden.
- To mark as taboo.
- To ban or prohibit.
- To avoid.
Etymology / origin
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.
- *tambu(pqe-pro)→
- *tabu(poz-oce-pro)→
- *tapu(poz-pol-pro)→
- tapu(to)→
- taboo (English)
- Relations: bor, der, der, der
Related words
tapu(to)*tapu(poz-pol-pro)*tabu(poz-oce-pro)*tambu(pqe-pro)tabú(Catalan)tabu(Danish)taboe(Dutch)tabuo(Esperanto)tabu(Estonian)tabu(Finnish)tabu(German)tabu(Hungarian)tabú(Icelandic)tabu(Indonesian)タブー(Japanese)터부(Korean)tabu(Lithuanian)tabu(Norwegian Bokmål)tabu(Norwegian Nynorsk)tabu(Polish)табу(Russian)tabu(Serbo-Croatian)tabú(Spanish)
Descendant words
- tabú(Catalan) (bor)
- tabu(Danish) (bor)
- taboe(Dutch) (bor)
- tabuo(Esperanto) (bor)
- tabu(Estonian) (bor)
- tabu(Finnish) (bor)
- tabu(German) (bor)
- tabu(Hungarian) (der)
- tabú(Icelandic) (bor)
- tabu(Indonesian) (bor)
- タブー(Japanese) (bor)
- 터부(Korean) (bor)
- tabu(Lithuanian) (der)
- tabu(Norwegian Bokmål) (der)
- tabu(Norwegian Nynorsk) (der)
- tabu(Polish) (bor)
- табу(Russian) (der)
- tabu(Serbo-Croatian) (bor)
- tabú(Spanish) (bor)
Sources
No citations have been attached yet.