La palabra hawaiana Kapu suele traducirse como "prohibido". En el antiguo Hawái, el Kapu hacía referencia al antiguo sistema de leyes y normas. Una ofensa Kapu consistía habitualmente en una infracción de tipo corporal, pero solía implicar también una amenaza al poder espiritual, o el robo del maná. El cumplimiento de los Kapus se imponía de forma estricta. La infracción de alguno, aunque fuera sin intención, solía conllevar la muerte inmediata. Este concepto se relaciona con el tabú y el tapu o tabu presente en otras culturas de la Polinesia.

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Kapu refers to the ancient Hawaiian code of conduct of laws and regulations. The kapu system was universal in lifestyle, gender roles, politics, religion, etc. An offense that was kapu was often a corporal offense, but also often denoted a threat to spiritual power, or theft of mana. Kapus were strictly enforced. Breaking one, even unintentionally, often meant immediate death, Koʻo kapu. The concept is related to taboo and the tapu or tabu found in other Polynesian cultures. The Hawaiian word kapu is usually translated to English as "forbidden", though it also carries the meanings of "keep out", "no trespassing", "sacred", "consecrated", or "holy". As these examples might suggest, the sense of the term in Polynesia carries connotations of sacredness as much as forbiddenness. Probably the best way to translate kapu into English is as meaning "marked off" or ritually restricted. The opposite of kapu is noa, meaning "common" or "free".

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