Taboo is an action, object, person, or place forbidden by law or culture. The word taboo comes from the Polynesian word tapu, or tabu, which means something sacred, special, dangerous, or unclean. Many societies believe that people who go to a taboo place or touch a taboo object will suffer serious injury. Society may also punish the offenders or may consider them to be taboo.
Sacred objects or people are taboo because they supposedly have a mysterious force that enables them to injure or kill a person. Unclean objects are taboo because they supposedly bring evil to a person or group.
People in many parts of the world avoid taboos. Until the 1900’s, for example, Fiji Islanders could not touch any article that belonged to the tribal chief or priest. Aboriginal people of Australia must not say the name of a dead person aloud. Muslims and Orthodox Jews must not eat pork or shellfish. All societies consider incest taboo. They forbid marriage or sexual relations between closely related people, such as a brother and sister. In modern society, people often use the word taboo to describe anything that one should not do, regardless of whether it is morally wrong or illegal.
See also Magic (The magician) (Homeopathic magic); Mana; Mythology (Mythology of the Pacific Islands).
