Word.ws English Dictionary

tabu

tabu is the alternative spelling of taboo.

Meaning of taboo

Noun

taboo (countable and uncountable, plural taboos)

  1. An inhibition or ban that results from social custom or emotional aversion.
    • It is true indeed that a taboo - in order to be a proper taboo - must not rest in the general mind on argument or reason.1920, Edward Carpenter, Pagan and Christian Creeds, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., published 1921, page 194
  2. Something which may not be used, approached or mentioned because it is sacred.

See all 7 meanings of taboo

Forms of tabu

Noun
pluraltabus
Verb
third-person singular presenttabus
present participletabuing
past participletabued
pasttabued

Words formed from tabu

Phrases with tabu

Questions about tabu

What is tabu the alternative spelling of?
Tabu is the alternative spelling of taboo.

Words near tabu in the dictionary

  1. tabsules
  2. Tabtabungao
  3. tabtop
  4. tabtoxin
  5. tabtoxins
  6. tabu
  7. tabu search
  8. tabu searches
  9. Tabuaeran
  10. Tabuan
  11. Tabuan-Lasa

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: tabu (page history and authors); taboo (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “tabu.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/tabu. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.