taboo

Definition

An inhibition or ban that results from social custom or emotional aversion.

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.

Example Sentences

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