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, published 1992, page 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: pemali (id), pantangan (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
• Tok Pisin: tambu
• 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: pantang (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, tabubelägga (sv)
• 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