Etymology

kapu

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Today it means: Taboo, especially in Hawaiian contexts. Full definition →

Hawaiian kapu ← Proto-Polynesian *tapu ← Proto-Oceanic *tabu
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The story

  1. Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian · derived from*tambu
  2. Proto-Oceanic · derived from*tabu
  3. Proto-Polynesian · derived from*tapu
  4. Hawaiian · borrowed fromkapu
  5. English todaykapu

From Hawaiian kapu, from Proto-Polynesian *tapu, from Proto-Oceanic *tabu, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *tambu. Doublet of taboo.

Words from the same roots

Proto-Polynesian*tapu all →

taboo

Proto-Oceanic*tabu all →

taboo

Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian*tambu all →

taboo

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.