Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🙅 Not allowed 🚫 A forbidden rule
tabu

tabu

1 9.9
A rule from religion or community that forbids certain actions and places
  • noun
  • /təˈbu/
  • UK
: tabú
  • In some cultures, certain foods are considered tabu and cannot be eaten during religious ceremonies.

Examples

  • The community respected the tabu regarding fishing in the sacred waters, keeping the area untouched.

  • Taboo or tabu is a Polynesian word that means a general ban on a specific object, which should not be touched.

    Academic text (2000)

  • The mines are tabu for his people, but... ... he promises to help us .

    Watusi (1959)

  • Mappurondo terraces had already been "wounded" by the till, putting into effect a village-wide tabu on noise, laughter, music, weddings, and other "life-sphere" rituals.

    Academic text (1993)

  • Breaking the tabu surrounding the ancestral spirits was believed to bring misfortune to the tribe.

Synonyms

no-no
vstabu
  • Informal
56 6.3

A thing or action that people say is not allowed

is a formal social or religious prohibition rather than a casual disliked action
taboo
vstabu
34 6.4

A social rule that says something is not allowed

is tied specifically to religious or sacred customs rather than general social rules

How Forbidden

prohibition
  • Formal
46 4.4
tabu
  • UK
1 9.9
restriction
312 3.0
custom
159 1.3
norm
182 3.7

Surface Forms

tabu singular
tabus plural

Etymology

Tabu comes from a Polynesian word tapu meaning 'forbidden' or 'sacred'. Sailors brought the word into English, so a tabu is a rule or custom that stops people from doing or touching something.