tapu

T1A1P3U1
/ˈtɑːpuː/

A form of taboo — An inhibition or ban that results from social custom or emotional aversion.

Opposite
noa
OriginMāori tapu →
UncommonScrabble 6
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Meanings

nountapu (countable and uncountable, plural tapus)

plural tapus

  1. New ZealandalternativecountableuncountableAlternative form of taboo.

    Spies were sent to test the Moriori’s mettle by violating tapu & despoiling holy sites.

    2004, David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas, London: Sceptre (Hodder and Stoughton), →ISBN
verbtapu (third-person singular simple present tapus, present participle tapuing, simple past and past participle tapued)

present singular third person tapus · participle present tapuing · participle past tapued · past tapued

  1. New ZealandalternativeAlternative form of taboo.

    Tapuing seeds and fields are types of the English laws for protecting out-door property; women tapued to men is matrimony; tapuing sick persons is analogous to the quarantine orders against lepers, the plague and the yellow fever.

    1859, Arthur Saunders Thomson, The Story of New Zealand: Past and Present, page 105

Synonyms & antonyms

Origin

  1. Māoritapu
  2. Englishtapu

Borrowed from Māori tapu. Doublet of kapu.

More words from Māori

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

putaTupapatu
Cite this entry
APA

tapu. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tapu

MLA

“tapu.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tapu. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tapu,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tapu.

Source: tapu on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.