# taboo

> English word · Noun · IPA /təˈbuː/ · frequency rank #15,715

## Definitions
1. An inhibition or ban that results from social custom or emotional aversion.
2. Something which may not be used, approached or mentioned because it is sacred.

## Etymology
Borrowed from Tongan tapu (“prohibited, sacred”), from Proto-Polynesian *tapu, from Proto-Oceanic *tabu, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *tambu. Doublet of kapu. First attested in c. 1777.
The p in the Tongan source was misheard as b.

## Easily confused with
- **too** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/taboo-vs-too)
- **tao** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/taboo-vs-tao)
- **taco** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/taboo-vs-taco)
- **taro** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/taboo-vs-taro)
- **Taos** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/taboo-vs-taos)
- **tango** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/taboo-vs-tango)
- **Tahoe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/taboo-vs-tahoe)
- **tarot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/taboo-vs-tarot)
- **talon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/taboo-vs-talon)
- **Tebow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/taboo-vs-tebow)
- **tabor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/taboo-vs-tabor)
- **tanto** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/taboo-vs-tanto)
- **tattoo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/taboo-vs-tattoo)
- **Talbot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/taboo-vs-talbot)
- **taboos** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/taboo-vs-taboos)
- **tab** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tab-vs-taboo)
- **table** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/table-vs-taboo)
- **tabby** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tabby-vs-taboo)

## Common misspellings (6)
`atboo`, `tabboo`, `tabo`, `taobo`, `tbaoo`, `ttaboo`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/taboo