禁

The character is composed of 林 (forest, woods) and 示 (altar, spirit, sacred).

The original idea is that in a sacred grove (林 + 示), entry was forbidden, because it was reserved for spirits or religious rites.

Thus, 禁 came to mean “to restrict, to forbid, to prohibit.”

Semantic range:

- to forbid, to ban – 禁止 (금지), prohibition

- to restrain, to hold back – 억제하다, to suppress or restrain

- sacred prohibition, taboo – originally related to religious restrictions

Because it denotes prohibition and restraint, 禁 often carries a negative or restrictive nuance.

It is also used in the sense of taboo, sacred prohibition, especially in older texts.

금지 (禁止) – prohibition, ban

금제 (禁制) – restriction, interdiction

불가침 (不可侵犯) – non-violation, literally “not permitted to invade”

금역 (禁域) – forbidden zone