tapu
Britishadjective
noun
Etymology
Origin of tapu
Māori, from Tongan
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A sacred Maori burial ground lies on the northern bank, and interference is tapu, or forbidden.
From New York Times • Jul. 4, 2016
They fought upon the land for love - and one, my mountain Taranaki, migrated west to maintain his tapu or sacredness.
From BBC • Aug. 16, 2013
It was required, said Maori leaders, to lift the tapu, or religious restrictions, from the exhibit's 174 pieces, which the New Zealanders believe are imbued with the living spirits of their ancestors.
From Time Magazine Archive
It's thought that the missionaries convinced the chiefs that fanifo was corrupting Tongan youth and didn't belong in a budding Christian society, and that the chiefs placed on the sport a tapu, or ban.
From Time Magazine Archive
Of this kind was the tapu of those who handled the dead, or conveyed the body to its last resting-place.
From Old New Zealand: being Incidents of Native Customs and Character in the Old Times by 'A Pakeha Maori'
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
