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START / NODE 324Present-Day English1777–today
taboo
An English borrowing recorded in 1777 from Tongan tabu, now tapu, within an Oceanic family whose reconstructed form joins ritual restriction with sacredness.
“Taboo did not begin as a merely secular synonym for “awkward” or “banned.” Its Tongan and wider Oceanic history holds prohibition, ritual restriction, and sacredness together.”OPEN COMPLETE WORD DOSSIER ↗
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01
PARENT ROUTES1 REVIEWED RELATIONSHIP
Present-Day Englishtaboo
a ritual or social prohibition; prohibited or set apart
↑GO DEEPER
Tongan · Tongantabu / tapuforbidden, prohibited, unlawful; historically also sacred or consecrated
- SOUND CHANGE
- Tongan tabu was adapted to the English spelling taboo and English phonology.
- SEMANTIC CHANGE
- A Polynesian field joining sacredness and prohibition became an English noun, adjective, and verb for prohibited things and acts.
- SCHOLAR
- Merriam-Webster Editors · POLLEX editors
- CONFIDENCE
- established — Merriam-Webster explicitly identifies Tongan tabu; POLLEX documents the Tongan forms and semantic range.
- CHRONOLOGY
- English record by 1777.
2 CITATIONSTaboo — Word HistoryWord History — Etymology; First Known Use TAPU [OC] — Prohibited, under ritual restriction, tabooTongan reflexes under OC.TAPU AUDIT CANONICAL EDGE 312 ↗
Identifies Tongan tabu and reports English use in 1777.
ORIGINAL ↗Documents Tongan taboo or tapu with forbidden, sacred, and consecrated senses.
ORIGINAL ↗THE ASTERISK IS A PROMISE
RECONSTRUCTION IS
NOT INSCRIPTION.
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