noun
definition
An inhibition or ban that results from social custom or emotional aversion.
definition
(in Polynesia) Something which may not be used, approached or mentioned because it is sacred.
verb
definition
To mark as taboo.
definition
To ban.
definition
To avoid.
adjective
definition
Excluded or forbidden from use, approach or mention.
definition
Culturally forbidden.
Examples of taboo in a Sentence
The word holiness (qodesh) in primitive Hebrew usage partook of the nature of taboo, and came to be applied to whatever, whether thing or person, stood in close relation to deity and belonged to him, and could not, therefore, be used or treated like other objects not so related, and so was separated or stood apart.
The custom of taboo was very fully developed.
Disease and death were often connected with the violation of taboo, the offended gods thus punishing the offenders.
There are various other subjects and occasions of taboo, but the institution has not the oppressive and all-pervading character which it has in Polynesia.
They were feared, too, as ministers of the taboo and were entitled to pronounce a kind of excommunication for offences against its rules.
They cannot then be used until the taboo is removed.
The institution of Taboo existed in full force.
Under taboo as late as 1819 women were to be put to death if they ate bananas, cocoa-nuts, pork, turtles or certain fish.
It is the note of every great religious reformer, Moses, Buddha, Paul, Mani, Mahomet, St Francis, Luther, to enlighten and direct it to higher aims, substituting a true personal holiness for a ritual purity or taboo, which at the best was viewed as a kind of physical condition and contagion, inherent as well in things and animals as in man.
When Vancouver visited the islands in 1792, he left sheep and neat cattle, 3 protected by a ten years' taboo, and laid down the keel of a European ship for Kamehameha.
The system of taboo was connected with their religious rites.
Death is the final taboo in today's society.
In such cases the holiness or taboo (q.v.) is traditional, or anyhow not imparted at a given moment by human intervention.
Thus too it comes that the chiefs, and all belonging to them, are taboo as regards the common people.
Its first beginnings are seen in the imitative tendencies of animals by which the young of one generation acquire some of the habits of their parents, and by which gregarious and social animals acquire a community of procedure ensuring the advantage of the group. " Taboo," the systematic imposition by the community of restrictions upon the conduct of the individual, is one of its earliest manifestations in primitive man and can be observed even in animal communities.
Primitive religions are like so many similar beads on a string; and the concern of the student of comparative religion is at this stage mainly with the nature of the string, to wit, the common conditions of soul and society that make, say, totemism, or taboo, very much the same thing all the savage world over, when we seek to penetrate to its essence.
Primary and secondary senses of the term between them cover so much ground that it is not surprising to find taboo used in Polynesia as a name for the whole system of religion, founded as it largely is on prohibitions and abstinences.
The privation involved in abstention from the flesh of the swine, a taboo hardly less widespread, is obvious.
Death is the final taboo in today 's society.
Here is a love story from director Ang Lee in which the taboo word " love " is never spoken.
A musical in London's West End called Taboo, based on Boy George's, life was a huge UK hit.
While other movies and television shows have featured gay characters, this was the first mainstream movie to deal with all the heartache and emotion surrounding the taboo of homosexuality in the 1960s.
IconHell.com - Filled with fun, wild and taboo icons, there is something for every taste.
What is considered taboo in some countries is widely accepted in others.
This taboo surrounding sexual activity is a contributing factor of why many teens do not consistently use adequate birth control methods to avoid conception, which leads to many pregnancies.
Interracial dating is not as taboo today as it once was.
In 1964, the subject was a taboo and it was seven years before the Roe v.
The feel of that taboo still resonates, even in this much more permissive era, so that a woman in fishnets is nearly always more sexy even than a woman with bare legs.
What initially was taboo for men's underwear has now become a fixture of well-known designer's male collections.
On the other hand, since the isolation of the sacred, even when originally conceived in the interest of the profane, may be interpreted as self-protection on the part of the sacred as against defiling contact, taboo takes on the connotation of ascetic virtue, purity, devotion, dignity and blessedness.
Not without nervous dread - witness the special taboo to which the leader of society is subject - he draws near and strives to constrain, conciliate or cajole the awful forces with which the life of the group is set about.
Of these formulae '(chosen because illustrated by Greek heroic legends) - (I) is a sanction of barbarous nuptial etiquette; (2) is an obvious ordinary incident; (3) is moral, and both (3) and (1) may pair off with all the myths of the origin of death from the infringement of a taboo or sacred command; (4) would naturally occur wherever, as on the West Coast of Africa, human victims have been offered to sharks or other beasts; (5) the story of flight from a horrible crime, occurs in some stellar myths, and is an easy and natural invention; (6) flight from wizard father or husband, is found in Bushman and Namaqua myth, where the husband is an elephant; (7) success of youngest brother, may have been an explanation and sanction of " tungsten-recht " - Maui in New Zealand is an example, and Herodotus found the story among the Scythians; (8) the bride given to successful adventurer, is consonant with heroic manners as late as Homer; (9) is no less consonant with the belief that beasts have human sentiments and supernatural powers; (to) the " strong man," is found among Eskimo and Zulus, and was an obvious invention when strength was the most admired of qualities; (II) the baffled ogre, is found among Basques and Irish, and turns on a form of punning which inspires an " ananzi " story in West Africa; (12) descent into Hades, is the natural result of the savage conception of Hades, and the tale is told of actual living people in the Solomon Islands and in New Caledonia; Eskimo Angekoks can and do descend into Hades - it is the prerogative of the necromantic magician; (13) " the false bride," found among the Zulus, does not permit of such easy explanation - naturally, in Zululand, the false bride is an animal; (14) the bride accused of bearing be 1st-children, has already been disposed of; the belief is inevitable where no distinction worth mentioning is taken between men and animals.
Death is still a taboo subject for many people.
In spite of the devastation that it is causing the disease still has a taboo status.
Taboo is a hot line of dresses with styles made exclusively for Deb stores.
It's no longer considered taboo for men to be in attendance.
Black, while once a taboo color for weddings, especially for the mother, is now a trendy and fashionable color at upscale formal weddings.
It is still considered taboo by the majority of people.
Black Eyed Peas member Jaime Luis Gomez (also known as Taboo) was arrested on suspected DUI in March 2007 after he crashed his car about 20 miles east of Los Angeles.
Women were raised with the fashion rule of never wearing white after Labor Day, however this isn't so taboo today, and especially not for little boys.
For some, the idea of training for such a specialized field on the Internet might still seem a bit taboo.
Unfortunately, that attitude still has a lot of traction amongst older men who grew up during a time when sex was a taboo subject, no matter what your age.
The taboo of using the Internet to meet people no longer exists and many senior people meet new friends online every day.
Though menstruation is no longer the taboo subject it once was, many parents still find that discussing the issue with their daughters can be uncomfortable.
Brazilian waxes are often considered the flirtatious and taboo version of a standard bikini wax.
What may seem taboo to discuss is actually the typical day at the office for your esthetician.
Perhaps the attraction is more about defying the rules of "polite" society by doing something often considered taboo, even if the activity is mild when compared to other things we might try.
The swimsuit does not speed up the tanning process in any way, rather it leaves you free of any tell tale tan lines or other skin variations that are considered a fashion taboo during the summer months.
I'm not all that familiar with the newest games on the market, but I would definitely consider Pictionary, Cranium, and Taboo to, in the not too distant future, be considered classic games.
Similarly, staring at other women or commenting on their appearance when with a date is taboo.