How to pronounce taboo
American English pronunciation
tuh-BOO
- IPA
- /təˈbu/
- Syllables
- tuh · BOO (2 syllables, stress on the 2nd)
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What taboo means
A thing people avoid saying or doing because custom forbids it
In a sentence: In our family, phones at the dinner table are a taboo.
Where it comes from: It comes from Tongan, a language of the Pacific islands, where it meant forbidden. It reached English around 1777, and the p in the Tongan word was misheard as a b.
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