taboo
/təˈbuː/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.47 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An inhibition or ban that results from social custom or emotional aversion.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
Something which may not be used, approached or mentioned because it is sacred.
Countable; Uncountable
adj
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."
- "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."
- "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."
- "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."
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- British English: /təˈbuː/
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Religion.
Inflected Forms
taboos (plural)
tabu (alternative)
tapu (alternative)
more taboo (comparative)
most taboo (superlative)
taboos (present, singular)
tabooing (participle, present)
tabooed (participle, past)
tabooed (past)