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.
1
An inhibition or ban that results from social custom or emotional aversion.
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:
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:
4 more examples
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:
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:
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:
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:
2
In Polynesia Something which may not be used, approached or mentioned because it is sacred.
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.
1
Excluded or forbidden from use, approach or mention.
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.
1
To mark as taboo.
2
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: