What is "taboo"

Taboo \Ta*boo"\, n. A total prohibition of intercourse with, use of, or approach to, a given person or thing under pain of death, -- an interdict of religious origin and authority, formerly common in the islands of Polynesia; interdiction. [Written also tabu.]

Taboo \Ta*boo"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tabooed; p. pr. & vb. n. Tabooing.] To put under taboo; to forbid, or to forbid the use of; to interdict approach to, or use of; as, to taboo the ground set apart as a sanctuary for criminals. [Written also tabu.]

Taboo \Ta*boo"\, a. [Written also tabu and tapu.] [Polynesian tabu, tapu, sacred, under restriction, a prohibition.] Set apart or sacred by religious custom among certain races of Polynesia, New Zealand, etc., and forbidden to certain persons or uses; hence, prohibited under severe penalties; interdicted; as, food, places, words, customs, etc., may be taboo.

also tabu, 1777 (in Cook's "A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean"), "consecrated, inviolable, forbidden, unclean or cursed," explained in some English sources as being from Tongan (Polynesian language of the island of Tonga) ta-bu "sacred," from ta "mark" + bu "especially." But this may be folk etymology, as linguists in the Pacific have reconstructed an irreducable Proto-Polynesian *tapu, from Proto-Oceanic *tabu "sacred, forbidden" (compare Hawaiian kapu "taboo, prohibition, sacred, holy, consecrated;" Tahitian tapu "restriction, sacred;" Maori tapu "be under ritual restriction, prohibited"). The noun and verb are English innovations first recorded in Cook's book.

1. 1 excluded or forbidden from use, approach or mention. 2 Culturally forbidden. n. 1 An inhibition or ban that results from social custom or emotional aversion. 2 (context in Polynesia English) Something which may not be used, approached or mentioned because it is sacred. v

2. 1 To mark as taboo. 2 To ban. 3 To avoid.

1. n. a prejudice (especially in Polynesia and other South Pacific islands) that prohibits the use or mention of something because of its sacred nature [syn: tabu]

2. an inhibition or ban resulting from social custom or emotional aversion [syn: tabu]

3. v. declare as sacred and forbidden

1. adj. excluded from use or mention; "forbidden fruit"; "in our house dancing and playing cards were out"; "a taboo subject" [syn: forbidden, out(p), prohibited, proscribed, tabu, verboten]

2. forbidden to profane use especially in South Pacific islands [syn: tabu]

A taboo is a vehement prohibition of an action based on the belief that such behavior is either too sacred or too accursed for ordinary individuals to undertake. Such prohibitions are present in virtually all societies. The word has been somewhat expanded in the social sciences to strong prohibitions relating to any area of human activity or custom that is sacred or forbidden based on moral judgment and religious beliefs. "Breaking a taboo" is usually considered objectionable by society in general, not merely a subset of a culture.

Taboo is a word, guessing, and party game published by Parker Brothers in 1989 (subsequently purchased by Hasbro). The objective of the game is for a player to have their partners guess the word on the player's card without using the word itself or five additional words listed on the card.

The game is similar to Catch Phrase, also from Hasbro, in which a player tries to get his or her teammates to guess words using verbal clues.

Taboo is a pornographic movie series of the 1980s, which eroticizes father-daughter & mother-son incest. It stars Kay Parker, and was directed by Kirdy Stevens and others.

The plot, which raised controversy when the film was released, involves a woman, who is left by her husband, seducing her teenaged son. It also involves a teen daughter who repeatedly has sex with her dad. Taboo became one of the biggest-selling adult movies ever, and spawned a number of sequels which involve other people in incestuous relationships.

In the Summer of 2006, Standard Digital (now known as Addictive Entertainment) re-released Taboo volumes 1 through 6 on DVD with new metallic-colored packaging.

Taboo is a stage musical with a book by Mark Davies Markham (extensively rewritten for the Broadway production by Charles Busch), lyrics by Boy George, and music by George, John Themis, Richie Stevens and Kevan Frost.

Set in an abandoned London warehouse, the partly imagined story of a group of club 'names' set in the location of what was the city's most fashionable nightclub, the now-legendary Taboo (1985–87) of the title, which was the creation of Leigh Bowery. Boy George is featured as one of the club's regulars, but in reality, George rarely attended. The show also focuses on George's life prior to and after achieving fame.

A taboo is a social prohibition or ban.

Taboo may also refer to:

• Taboo (drink), a vodka based liqueur with wine and tropical fruit juices
• Taboo (game), a 1989 word guessing party board game
• Taboo (Harry Potter), a spell in the Harry Potter series
• Taboo: The Sixth Sense, a 1989 tarot reading video game by Rare
• UHF taboo television broadcast frequencies
• Taboo Tuesday, a professional wrestling pay-per-view event promoted by World Wrestling Entertainment, renamed Cyber Sunday

Jaime Luis Gomez (born July 14, 1975), better known by his stage name Taboo, is an American hip hop recording artist, actor and DJ best known as a member of the group The Black Eyed Peas.

Taboo is the fourth studio album by the Japanese rock band Buck-Tick. It was released on cassette, CD and as a two-record vinyl set (one is a blank picture disc) on January 18, 1989 through Victor Entertainment. Taboo was digitally remastered and re-released on September 19, 2002, with two bonus tracks. It was remastered and re-released again on September 5, 2007. "Angelic Conversation" was re-recorded as the b-side to the group's single "M・A・D" in 1991. "Just One More Kiss", "Iconoclasm" and "Taboo" were later re-recorded for the compilation album Koroshi no Shirabe: This Is Not Greatest Hits (1992). "Iconoclasm" was covered by J for the Buck-Tick tribute album, Parade -Respective Tracks of Buck-Tick- (2005). Taboo peaked at number one on the Oricon charts, selling 320,000 copies.

Taboo is the name of a fictional character from the Wildstorm universe that first appeared in Backlash #1 in 1994, she quickly became a major supporting character in the series and Backlash's main love interest.

Taboo is a fruit-flavoured spirit made in the UK. Its main ingredients are vodka, white wine and exotic fruit juices. Its alcohol content is 14.9% (29.8 proof).

Taboo was first put out on the market in 1988 by drinks company First Drink. However after a honeymoon period for the product up until the early 1990s the company spent very little money on promoting it in later years; in 2005 only £8,000 was spent. However in 2006 First Drink hired 23red to boost Taboo's profile.

Originally the drink was marketed with a companion spirit called Mirage, with advertising showing both products.

Taboo is a documentary television series that premiered in 2002 on the National Geographic Channel. The program is an educational look into " taboo" rituals and traditions practiced in some societies, yet forbidden and illegal in others.

Each hour-long episode details a specific topic, such as marriage or initiation rituals, and explores how such topics are viewed throughout the world. Taboo generally focuses on the most misunderstood, despised, or disagreed-upon activities, jobs, and roles.

Taboo was a comics anthology edited by Steve Bissette that was designed to feature edgier and more adult comics than could be published through mainstream publishers. The series began as a horror anthology, but soon branched out into other genres as well. It was published by various imprints from 1988–1995.

Taboo most notably serialized Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's From Hell. It also featured work by Moebius, Chester Brown, Neil Gaiman, Dave Sim, Michael Zulli, and Charles Vess, as well as Moore & Melinda Gebbie's Lost Girls.

"Taboo" (capitalized as "TABOO") is a song by Japanese recording artist Kumi Koda, taken from her seventh studio album Trick (2009). It was written by Koda, and co-written and produced by Hiro. "Taboo" is a dance-pop song that lyrically discusses several taboo subjects including sex and homosexuality. It contains numerous elements including electropop and hip-hop, and employs use of vocoder. It was released as the second single from the album on October 8, 2008 by Rhythm Zone.

Critical reception towards "Taboo" has been positive, with a majority of the critics commending the catchy chorus and its production. Several critics have highlighted "Taboo" as the album's and Koda's career stand out track. In Japan, "Taboo" became Koda's fifth number one single, and reached number six on the Asian–Taiwanese Singles Chart. It has sold over 88,000 units in Japan, and "Taboo" was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for shipments of 100,000 units. "Taboo" has been professionally remixed twice, and included on her remix albums Koda Kumi Driving Hit's (2009) and Beach Mix (2012).

A music video for "Taboo" was directed by Takashi Tadokoro, and features Koda in a mansion. Based on themes and exploration of homosexuality and sexual content, the video has Koda dancing in different rooms with female and male companions. Another video version was edited with longer bathroom and dancing scenes. "Taboo" was included on the set list of the singer's 2009 Trick tour, and the Premium Night: Love & Songs tour. "Taboo" and its music video has been widely considered an emphasis of Koda's self-described style " Ero kawaii", and has been notified as one of her "sexiest" and most well-known videos.

Taboo is a monograph based on a series of lectures by Franz Steiner, now considered to be a classic in the field of social anthropology. The volume was published posthumously, edited by Steiner's student Laura Bohannan, and the first edition, brought out in 1956, contained a preface by his mentor E. E. Evans-Pritchard. The lectures analyze one of the great problematic terms of modern ethnography, that of taboo, derived from the Polynesian word tapu, adopted by Western scholars to refer to a generic set of ritual inhibitions governing what was thought to be primitive society or the ‘savage mind’.

Taboo is a mystery thriller film directed by Max Makowski and starring Nick Stahl, Eddie Kaye Thomas and January Jones.

Taboo is a play first performed in 1922, written by Mary Hoyt Wiborg.

It is set on a plantation in Louisiana before the American Civil War and in Africa. It opened on April 4, 1922 in the Sam Harris Theater, Harlem. It starred Margaret Wycherly, the only white member of the cast, Paul Robeson, other African American actors, and African students at Columbia University. An African dance was performed by C. Kamba Simango, a Mozambican student at Columbia. This was one of Robeson's first stage opportunities and his performance was praised by critics.

Taboo was a Eurodance group formed in Germany. It was created by producers Nico Dee-Brunetti and Piero Brunetti. They released one single, "I Dream of You Tonight (Bab Ba Ba Bab)". It peaked at number 92 on the German Singles Chart and reached number-one on the RPM Dance Chart in Canada.

Taboo is a forthcoming British drama television miniseries created by Steven Knight. The eight-episode miniseries is about an adventurer who returns to Britain from Africa along with fourteen stolen diamonds to seek vengeance after the death of his father. Kristoffer Nyholm will direct the first four episodes. The miniseries, created from a story co-written by Tom Hardy and his father, Chips Hardy, who will act as a consulting producer, will premiere on BBC One in the United Kingdom and FX in the United States.

"Taboo" is the second single from Don Omar's collaborative album Meet the Orphans released in January 24, 2011 through Universal Latino. The song is re-adapted version from Los Kjarkas's song " Llorando se fue" most commonly known for its use in Kaoma's 1989 hit single " Lambada" fused with Latin beats. The song peaked at number one on the Billboard Latin Songs, becoming his third number one single on the chart.