different between taboo vs interdiction

English

Alternative forms

• tabu, tapu

Etymology

Borrowing from Tongan tapu (“prohibited, sacred”), from Proto-Polynesian *tapu, from Proto-Oceanic *tabu, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *tambu. Doublet of kapu. The word entered English around 1777.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t??bu?/, /tæ?bu?/

Noun

taboo (countable and uncountable, plural taboos)

1. An inhibition or ban that results from social custom or emotional aversion.
   • 1974, Lawrence Durrell, Monsieur, Faber & Faber 1992, p. 213:

     The sharp differentiation of the sexes in our culture was shaped most probably by monogamy and monosexuality and their tabus.

2. (in Polynesia) Something which may not be used, approached or mentioned because it is sacred.

Translations

Adjective

taboo (comparative more taboo, superlative most taboo)

1. Excluded or forbidden from use, approach or mention.

   Incest is a taboo subject in most soap operas.

2. Culturally forbidden.

Translations

Verb

taboo (third-person singular simple present taboos, present participle tabooing, simple past and past participle tabooed)

1. To mark as taboo.
2. To ban.
3. To avoid.

Translations

Anagrams

• aboot

English

Etymology

From Middle English, borrowed from French interdiction, itself a borrowing from Latin interdicti?.

Noun

interdiction (countable and uncountable, plural interdictions)

1. the act of interdicting or something interdicted
2. the destruction of an enemy's military potential before it can be used

Translations

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin interdicti?.

Pronunciation

Noun

interdiction f (plural interdictions)

1. ban, interdiction

Related terms

• interdire
• interdit

Further reading

• “interdiction” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).