tabu

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

George notes that our word “taboo” is believed to derive from one of two Polynesian words: tapua, which means “menstruation,” or tabu, which means “apart.”

From The New Yorker • Jan. 7, 2019

The tabu on horses and dogs thus renders unthinkable the consumption of a set of animals whose production is practically feasible and which are nutritionally not to be despised.

From Scientific American • Sep. 6, 2013

Beneath the comic excessiveness of his meditations can be glimpsed some somber spiritual shadows: "Everything was out of the closet, every tabu broken, and still God kept His back turned, refusing to set limits."

From Time Magazine Archive

Pastor Salau demonstrated with the Lord's Prayer: Papa belong me fella, stop on top; name belong You he tabu; Pidgin belong you he come down along ground all same on top.

From Time Magazine Archive

He anointed his body with the kukui oil until it glistened like the polished leaves of trees; then taking his surf-board he went boldly to the tabu surf waters of his sister.

From Legends of Gods and Ghosts (Hawaiian Mythology) Collected and Translated from the Hawaiian by Westervelt, W. D. (William Drake)