Etymograph

English

taboo

Taboo comes from Tongan tapu ‘prohibited, sacred’, and goes back to Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *tambu.

  1. Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesianprehistoric (reconstructed)*tambu1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Oceanicprehistoric (reconstructed)*tabu1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Polynesianprehistoric (reconstructed)*tapu1reconstructed
  4. Tonganmoderntapu1‘prohibited, sacred’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1914taboo1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English taboo
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1914, Ernest Bramah: “They lunched, but if the subject of Carrados had…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesianprehistoric (reconstructed)*tambuWiktionary, English tabooreconstructed
  2. Proto-Oceanicprehistoric (reconstructed)*tabuWiktionary, English tabooreconstructed
  3. Proto-Polynesianprehistoric (reconstructed)*tapuWiktionary, English tabooreconstructed
  4. TonganmoderntapuWiktionary, English taboo‘prohibited, sacred’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1914tabooWiktionary, English taboo. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1914, Ernest Bramah: “They lunched, but if the subject of Carrados had…”

first attested First attested in c. 1777 (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)

The story

First attested in c. 1777. The p in the Tongan source was misheard as b.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Every English word from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *tambu

Today it means

noun An inhibition or ban that results from social custom or emotional aversion.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “taboo”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *tambu / taboo

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