Main Entry: ¹ta·boo

Variant(s): also ta·bu \tə-ˈbü, ta-\

Function: noun

Inflected Form(s): plural taboos also tabus

1 : a prohibition in some cultures against touching, saying, or doing something for fear of immediate harm from a mysterious superhuman force
2 : a prohibition imposed by social custom or as a protective measure <the view that incest, not cannibalism, was the world's first taboo—Phyllis Grosskurth>
3 : belief in taboos

—taboo also tabu adjective