Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A ban or inhibition resulting from social custom or emotional aversion.
- noun A prohibition, especially in Polynesia and other South Pacific islands, excluding something from use, approach, or mention because of its sacred and inviolable nature.
- noun An object, word, or act protected by such a prohibition.
- adjective Excluded or forbidden from use, approach, or mention.
- transitive verb To exclude from use, approach, or mention; place under taboo.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To put under taboo; disallow, or forbid the use of; interdict approach to, or contact or intercourse with; hence, to ban, exclude, or ostracize by personal authority or social influence: as, to
taboo the use of tobacco; a tabooed person or subject (one not to be mentioned or discussed). - Among the Polynesians and other races of the South Pacific, separated or set apart either as forbidden or as sacred; placed under ban or prohibition; consecrated either to exclusion or avoidance or to special use, regard, or service; hence, in English use, forbidden; interdicted.
- noun Among the Polynesians and other races of the South Pacific, a system, practice, or act whereby persons, things, places, actions, or words are or may be placed under a ban, curse, or prohibition, or set apart as sacred or privileged in some specific manner, usually with very severe penalties for infraction.
- noun Hence A prohibitory or restraining injunction or demonstration; restraint or exclusion, as from social intercourse or from use, imposed by some controlling influence; ban; prohibition; ostracism: as, to put a person or a thing under taboo. See the verb.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A total prohibition of intercourse with, use of, or approach to, a given person or thing under pain of death, -- an interdict of religious origin and authority, formerly common in the islands of Polynesia; interdiction.
- transitive verb To put under taboo; to forbid, or to forbid the use of; to interdict approach to, or use of.
- adjective Set apart or sacred by religious custom among certain races of Polynesia, New Zealand, etc., and forbidden to certain persons or uses; hence, prohibited under severe penalties; interdicted.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun An
inhibition orban that results fromsocial custom oremotional aversion . - noun Something which may not be
used ,approached ormentioned because it issacred . - adjective
Excluded orforbidden from use, approach or mention. - verb To
mark as taboo. - verb To
ban . - verb To
avoid .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb declare as sacred and forbidden
- adjective forbidden to profane use especially in South Pacific islands
- noun a prejudice (especially in Polynesia and other South Pacific islands) that prohibits the use or mention of something because of its sacred nature
- noun an inhibition or ban resulting from social custom or emotional aversion
- adjective excluded from use or mention
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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By far, the most important victory for breaking the word taboo comes in Cohen v.
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In an article in the Daily Telegraph, he describes the public reaction to his remarks as "hysterical", and says that a breach in what he calls the taboo on discussing race is "punished by ostracism and worse … the witch finders already have their sights on me".
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He says the Holocaust was being used to legitimise the suffering of other peoples and he wanted to break what he called a taboo on discussing it.
Neturei Karta Hasidim Hangin’ With Ahmadinejad | Jewschool 2006
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In short, those negative precepts which we call taboo are just as vain and futile as those positive precepts which we call sorcery.
Chapter 3. Sympathetic Magic. § 2. Homoeopathic or Imitative Magic 1922
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In short, those negative precepts which we call taboo are just as vain and futile as those positive precepts which we call sorcery.
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In short, those negative precepts which we call taboo are just as vain and futile as those positive precepts which we call sorcery.
The Golden Bough James George Frazer 1897
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Thai government distanced itself Wednesday from remarks in the Minister Kasit Piromya about a need for a more open discussion of what he called the taboo subject of the role of the monarchy in
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Thai government distanced itself Wednesday from remarks in the Minister Kasit Piromya about a need for a more open discussion of what he called the taboo subject of the role of the monarchy in
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Thai government distanced itself Wednesday from remarks in the Minister Kasit Piromya about a need for a more open discussion of what he called the taboo subject of the role of the monarchy in
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Thai government distanced itself Wednesday from remarks in the Minister Kasit Piromya about a need for a more open discussion of what he called the taboo subject of the role of the monarchy in
afredricks commented on the word taboo
It's taboo to eat pork in some religions.
May 20, 2009
luckyluc commented on the word taboo
forbidden from use
May 21, 2009