taboo

• POS: Adjective, Noun, Verb (usu participle)
• HYPHEN: ta=boo

CIDE DICTIONARY

taboo, n. 

 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.  [1913 Webster]

taboo, v. t. 

 To put under taboo; to forbid, or to forbid the use of; to interdict approach to, or use of; as, to taboo the ground set apart as a sanctuary for criminals.  [1913 Webster]

taboo, a. [Polynesian tabu, tapu, sacred, under restriction, a prohibition.].

 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; as, food, places, words, customs, etc., may be taboo.  [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

taboo, n., adj., & v. (also tabu)
--n. (pl. taboos or tabus)
1 a system or the act of setting a person or thing apart as sacred or accursed.
2 a prohibition or restriction imposed by social custom.
--adj.
1 avoided or prohibited, esp. by social custom (taboo words).
2 designated as sacred and prohibited.
--v.tr. (taboos, tabooed or tabus, tabued)
1 put (a thing, practice, etc.) under taboo.
2 exclude or prohibit by authority or social influence.

Etymology

Tongan tabu

THESAURUS

taboo

Eighteenth Amendment, Prohibition Party, Volstead Act, anathema, ban, banned, bar, bar out, barred, barring, blockade, boycott, censorable, censored, circumscription, contraband, count out, cut off, debar, debarment, debarring, demarcation, denial, deny, dirty, disallow, disallowance, embargo, enjoin, exception, exclude, exclude from, exclusion, explicit, forbade, forbid, forbiddance, forbidden, forbidden fruit, forbidding, freeze out, ignore, illegal, illicit, impolite, inadmissibility, indecorous, index, index expurgatorius, index librorum prohibitorum, inhibit, inhibition, injunction, interdict, interdicted, interdiction, interdictum, jargonal, jargonish, keep out, law, leave out, limitation, lock out, lockout, narrowing, no-no, nonadmission, nonpermissible, not permitted, off limits, omission, omit, ostracize, out of bounds, outlaw, outlawed, pass over, preclude, preclusion, prevent, prevention, prohibit, prohibited, prohibition, prohibitory injunction, proscribe, proscribed, proscription, refusal, refuse, regulation, reject, rejection, relegate, relegation, repress, repression, repudiate, repudiation, reservation, restraint, restricted, restriction, restrictive covenants, rude, rule out, ruled out, ruling out, sanction, say no to, scatological, send to Coventry, shut out, slang, slangy, statute, sumptuary laws, suppress, suppression, tabooed, unacceptable, unallowed, unauthorized, under the ban, unlawful, unlicensed, unmentionable, unpermissible, unsanctioned, unspeakable, untouchable, verboten, vetoed, zoning, zoning laws

ROGET THESAURUS

taboo

Prohibition

N prohibition, inhibition, veto, disallowance, interdict, interdiction, injunction, estoppel, embargo, ban, taboo, proscription, index expurgatorius, restriction, hindrance, forbidden fruit, Maine law, prohibitive, prohibitory, proscriptive, restrictive, exclusive, forbidding, prohibited, not permitted, unlicensed, contraband, impermissible, under the ban of, illegal, unauthorized, not to be thought of, uncountenanced, unthinkable, beyond the pale, on no account, Int, forbid it heaven!, hands off!, keep off!, hold!, stop!, desist!, cease and desist!, avast!, that will never do, don't you dare, forget it, don't even think about doing it, go ahead, make my day.

VB prohibit, inhibit, forbid, put one's veto upon, disallow, enjoin, ban, outlaw, taboo, proscribe, estop, bar, debar, forefend, keep in, keep within bounds, restrain, cohibit, withhold, limit, circumscribe, clip the wings of, restrict, interdict, taboo, put under an interdiction, place under an interdiction, put under the ban, place under the ban, proscribe, exclude, shut out, shut the door, bolt the door, show the door, warn off, dash the cup from one's lips, forbid the banns, prohibit, inhibit, forbid, put one's veto upon, disallow, enjoin, ban, outlaw, taboo, proscribe, estop, bar, debar, forefend, keep in, keep within bounds, restrain, cohibit, withhold, limit, circumscribe, clip the wings of, restrict, interdict, taboo, put under an interdiction, place under an interdiction, put under the ban, place under the ban, proscribe, exclude, shut out, shut the door, bolt the door, show the door, warn off, dash the cup from one's lips, forbid the banns.

Sorcery

VB practice sorcery, cast a nativity, conjure, exorcise, charm, enchant, bewitch, bedevil, hoodoo, voodoo, entrance, mesmerize, magnetize, fascinate, taboo, wave a wand, rub the ring, rub the lamp, cast a spell, call up spirits, call up spirits from the vasty deep, raise spirits from the dead.