禁忌
jìnjì · HSK 7
taboo
🚫 禁 forbid + 忌 avoid = a forbidden-and-avoided thing: a taboo
禁 (jìn) means to prohibit or ban; 忌 (jì) means to shun or abstain from. Together they name something both banned and shunned — a taboo. The repeated jì sound echoes the two characters' shared rhyme.
忌 — heart 心 + self 己 (phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound: 心 ('heart/mind') gives the meaning, while 己 ('self') supplies the sound. The heart component points to inner feelings like dread or aversion, yielding senses such as 'to fear,' 'to avoid,' or 'taboo.' From there it extended to 'jealousy' and 'anniversary of a death.'