Ta‐boo″ (?), a. [Written also tapu.] [Polynesian tabu, tapu, sacred, under restriction, a prohibition.] Set apart or sacred by religious custom among certain races of Polynesia, New Zealand, etc., and forbidden to certain persons or uses; hence, prohibited under severe penalties; interdicted; as, food, places, words, customs, etc., may be taboo.
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Webster's Dictionary 1913
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, C. & G. Merriam Co., 1913.