tapuadj.n.

1832 H. Williams Jrnl. 18 Jan. in H. Carleton Life H. Williams (1874) 114 The canoe was tapu, having conveyed the body of Heagi..to his former place.

1849 W. T. Power Sketches in N.Z. p. xliv A barbarous murder was committed by some of the natives under the protection of Rangihaeta, who refused to give them up; moreover, making the road ‘tapu’ which communicated between the coast and Wellington.

1873 A. Trollope Austral. & N.Z. II. 419 Priests are tapu. Food is very often tapu, so that only sacred persons may eat it, and then must eat it without touching it with their hands. Places are frightfully tapu, so that no man or woman may go in upon them.

1902 G. B. Shaw Mrs. Warren's Profession p. xiii Mrs Warren's profession must be either tapu altogether, or else exhibited with the warning side as freely displayed as the tempting side.

1936 Discovery Jan. 14/1 The Maoris had found out that the Morioris were a very tapu people.

1967 A. Reid & D. Reid Paddle Wheels on Wanganui iv. 33 The bodies were recovered and laid in the old house which was then declared tapu.

1978 P. Grace Mutuwhenua ix. 56 Those hills, there are tapu places in them.

1833 H. Williams Let. July in H. Carleton Life H. Williams (1874) 134 Some proposed Paihia, but this we declined, fearing it might bring the tapu upon a considerable portion of the land.

1851 E. Wilson New Zealand 24 But chiefly thou, mysterious Tapû, From thy strange rites a hopeful sign we draw.

1872 A. Domett Ranolf & Amohia 89 His sole ‘tapu’ a far securer guard Than lock and key of craftiest notch and ward.

1902 G. B. Shaw Mrs. Warren's Profession p. xiii Each nation has its particular set of tapus in addition to the common human stock.

1938 R. Finlayson Brown Man's Burden 41 Uncle Tuna..disapproved of joking about matters of tapu.

1971 N.Z. Listener 29 Mar. 11/1 In old New Zealand there were two main causes of sickness and disease. One was the violation of tapu or a tapu place.

1837 in R. McNab Old Whaling Days (1931) xxi. 335 [I] tapued a piece of land of the proprietors, two respectable chiefs, for some blankets and fish-hooks.

1851 V. Lush Jrnl. 16 Dec. (1971) 94 A native burial place which the Tryces had been obliged to fence in before the natives would allow them to dwell in peace—so great is the natives' dread lest a spot they have tapued should be desecrated by man or beast.

1863 F. E. Maning Old N.Z. i. 14 A good gun... I must have this; I must tapu it before I leave the ship.

1890 Jrnl. Anthropol. Inst. 19 100 Tapu is an awful weapon. I have seen a strong young man die the same day he was tapued.