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.
Meanings
Excluded or forbidden from use, approach or mention.
bg забранен (excluded or forbidden from use, approach or mention) · cmn 忌諱的 /忌讳的 (excluded or forbidden from use, approach or mention) · de tabu (excluded or forbidden from use, approach or mention) · et tabu (excluded or forbidden from use, approach or mention) · cmn 禁忌的 (excluded or forbidden from use, approach or mention) · ja 禁制の (excluded or forbidden from use, approach or mention) · fr taboue (excluded or forbidden from use, approach or mention) · to tapu (excluded or forbidden from use, approach or mention) · ja 禁忌の (excluded or forbidden from use, approach or mention) · id pantang (excluded or forbidden from use, approach or mention) · cmn 避忌的 (excluded or forbidden from use, approach or mention) · fr tabou (excluded or forbidden from use, approach or mention) · fi tabu (excluded or forbidden from use, approach or mention) · rap tapu (excluded or forbidden from use, approach or mention) · sw tambiko (excluded or forbidden from use, approach or mention) · ru табуи́рованный (excluded or forbidden from use, approach or mention) · pt tabu (excluded or forbidden from use, approach or mention) · es tabú (excluded or forbidden from use, approach or mention) · ca tabú (excluded or forbidden from use, approach or mention) · su pamali (excluded or forbidden from use, approach or mention) · cs tabu (excluded or forbidden from use, approach or mention)
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.
Meanings
(countable, uncountable) An inhibition or ban that results from social custom or emotional aversion.
Now, we assume that people who check their watches at dinner are probably trying to avoid pulling out their phones, which would be ruder and more disruptive. In other words, mass adoption killed the taboo. 2023 June 6, Kevin Roose, “Why I Can’t Bet Against Apple’s Mixed-Reality Prowess”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 07 Jun 2023:
It is true indeed that a taboo - in order to be a proper taboo - must not rest in the general mind on argument or reason. 1920, Edward Carpenter, Pagan and Christian Creeds, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., published 1921, page 194:
The sharp differentiation of the sexes in our culture was shaped most probably by monogamy and monosexuality and their tabus. 1974, Lawrence Durrell, Monsieur, Faber & Faber, published 1992, page 213:
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. 1922, James Frazer, The Golden Bough:
American society has a double standard when it comes to sexuality. We have a puritanical taboo against talking about sexuality directly, yet we are fine with the sexual images that pervade television and glossy magazines. 2014 May 21, Rey Junco, “What’s the big deal about sexting?”, in CNN:
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. 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light:Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, page 12:
(countable, in Polynesia, uncountable) Something which may not be used, approached or mentioned because it is sacred.
ja 禁忌 (inhibition or ban) · ru табу́ (in Polynesia: something which may not be used) · sv tabu (inhibition or ban) · sq tabu (inhibition or ban) · cmn 避忌 (inhibition or ban) · mi tapu (in Polynesia: something which may not be used) · sw tambiko (in Polynesia: something which may not be used) · sm tapu (in Polynesia: something which may not be used) · ar مَحْظُورٌ اجْتِمَاعِيّ (inhibition or ban) · nn tabu (inhibition or ban) · el ταμπού (inhibition or ban) · gl tabú (inhibition or ban) · cy tabŵ (inhibition or ban) · io tabu (inhibition or ban) · mww caiv (inhibition or ban) · yi טאַבו (inhibition or ban) · haw kapu (in Polynesia: something which may not be used) · to tapu (in Polynesia: something which may not be used) · es tabú (inhibition or ban) · sh табу (inhibition or ban) · jv ꦥꦥꦭꦶ (inhibition or ban) · be табу́ (inhibition or ban) · pt tabu (inhibition or ban) · sh tabu (inhibition or ban) · lv tabu (inhibition or ban) · eo tabuo (inhibition or ban) · da tabu (inhibition or ban) · sk tabu (inhibition or ban) · cmn 忌諱 /忌讳 (inhibition or ban) · sl tabu (inhibition or ban) · ja タブー (inhibition or ban) · nb tabu (inhibition or ban) · to tapu (inhibition or ban) · it tabù (in Polynesia: something which may not be used) · fi tabu (in Polynesia: something which may not be used) · ms pantang (inhibition or ban) · ko 금기 (inhibition or ban) · fi tabu (inhibition or ban) · tpi tambu (in Polynesia: something which may not be used) · id pantangan (inhibition or ban) · mh mo̧ (inhibition or ban) · hu tabu (inhibition or ban) · ja 禁止 (inhibition or ban) · rap tapu (in Polynesia: something which may not be used) · de Tabu (inhibition or ban) · cs tabu (inhibition or ban) · nl taboe (inhibition or ban) · mk табу (inhibition or ban) · xal хөрг (inhibition or ban) · pl tabu (inhibition or ban) · it tabù (inhibition or ban) · ca tabú (in Polynesia: something which may not be used) · ko 터부 (inhibition or ban) · sw tambiko (inhibition or ban) · bg табу (inhibition or ban) · eu tabu (inhibition or ban) · tr tabu (inhibition or ban) · tpi tambu (inhibition or ban) · it divieto (inhibition or ban) · lt tabu (inhibition or ban) · cmn 禁忌 (inhibition or ban) · et tabu (in Polynesia: something which may not be used) · fj tabu (in Polynesia: something which may not be used) · scn tabbù (in Polynesia: something which may not be used) · srn kina (inhibition or ban) · ca tabú (inhibition or ban) · ki mũgiro (inhibition or ban) · fr tabou (inhibition or ban) · uk табу́ (inhibition or ban) · su pamali (inhibition or ban) · fa تابو (inhibition or ban) · ro tabu (inhibition or ban) · pt tabu (in Polynesia: something which may not be used) · az tabu (inhibition or ban) · hy տաբու (inhibition or ban) · srn trefu (inhibition or ban) · tl kabawalan (inhibition or ban) · es tabú (in Polynesia: something which may not be used) · ka ტაბუ (inhibition or ban) · ru табу́ (inhibition or ban) · id pemali (inhibition or ban) · et tabu (inhibition or ban)
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.
Meanings
(transitive) To mark as taboo.
(transitive) To ban or prohibit.
They lunched, but if the subject of Carrados had been tabooed the meal would have been a silent one. 1914, Ernest Bramah, Max Carrados:
fi välttää (avoid) · it tabuizzare (mark as taboo) · de tabuisieren (mark as taboo) · cmn 忌諱 /忌讳 (mark as taboo) · ru налага́ть табу́ (ban) · cs tabuizovat (mark as taboo) · ja 禁止する (mark as taboo) · de tabuisieren (avoid) · fi kieltää (ban) · sv tabuera (mark as taboo) · ja タブーにする (mark as taboo) · nl taboeïseren (mark as taboo) · cs tabuizovat (avoid) · ru налага́ть табу́ (avoid) · ja 禁止する (ban) · sw tambiko (avoid) · cmn 禁止 (ban) · ru табуи́ровать (mark as taboo) · et tabustama (mark as taboo) · sw tambiko (ban) · uk табуювати (mark as taboo) · ja 禁忌する (mark as taboo) · cmn 忌諱 /忌讳 (avoid) · fi merkitä tabuksi (mark as taboo) · sw tambiko (mark as taboo) · ja 排斥する (avoid) · sv tabubelägga (mark as taboo) · de tabuisieren (ban) · cmn 避免 (avoid)