tapu
/ (ˈtɑːpuː) NZ /
sacred; forbidden
a Māori religious or superstitious restriction on something
Origin of tapu
1Words Nearby tapu
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
How to use tapu in a sentence
Among the New Zealanders, when they were first revealed to Europeans as savages, the place of interment was tapu, or holy.
In Search Of Gravestones Old And Curious | W.T. (William Thomas) VincentSuffice it, that a thing which was tapu must not be touched, nor a place that was tapu visited.
Ballads | Robert Louis StevensonIt is impossible to explain tapu in a note; we have it as an English word, taboo.
Ballads | Robert Louis StevensonThese tapu lands were watered by skilfully constructed aqueducts, whereby they were rendered suitable for agriculture.
There were in the old times two great institutions, which ruled with iron rod in Maori land—the tapu and the Muru.
Old New Zealand: | 'A Pakeha Maori' [Frederick Edwa [Maning]
Browse