tattoo

¹

[ ta-too ]

noun

, plural tat·toos.

1. a signal on a drum, bugle, or trumpet at night, for soldiers or sailors to go to their quarters.
2. a knocking or strong pulsation:

   My heart beat a tattoo on my ribs.

3. British. an outdoor military pageant or display.

tattoo

²

[ ta-too ]

noun

, plural tat·toos.

1. the act or practice of marking the skin with indelible patterns, pictures, legends, etc., by making punctures in it and inserting pigments.
2. a pattern, picture, legend, etc., so made.

verb (used with object)

, tat·tooed, tat·too·ing.

1. to mark (the skin) with tattoos.
2. to put (tattoos) on the skin.

tattoo

¹

/ tæˈtuː /

verb

1. to make (pictures or designs) on (the skin) by pricking and staining with indelible colours

noun

1. a design made by this process
2. the practice of tattooing

tattoo

²

/ tæˈtuː /

noun

1. (formerly) a signal by drum or bugle ordering the military to return to their quarters
2. a military display or pageant, usually at night
3. any similar beating on a drum, etc

Derived Forms

• tatˈtooer, noun

Other Words From

• tat·tooer tat·tooist noun
• untat·tooed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of tattoo¹

First recorded in 1570–80; earlier taptoo, from Dutch taptoe, literally, “shut tap,” from tap “spigot, tap” + toe “closed, shut”; cognate with tap ²( def ), to ( def )

Origin of tattoo²

First recorded in 1760–70; from Marquesan tatu; replacing tattow, from Tahitian tatau

Word History and Origins

Origin of tattoo¹

C18: from Tahitian tatau

Origin of tattoo²

C17: from Dutch taptoe, from the command tap toe! turn off the taps! from tap tap of a barrel + toe to shut

Example Sentences

As Mamerow’s condition progressed, her eyebrows disappeared, the hair now replaced by a subtle tattoo of fine lines designed to replicate eyebrows.

From Ozy

Luckily for Gelsinger’s marriage, the tattoo was only temporary and the photo was staged.

From Fortune

If tattoo pigments are too small, the immune system rapidly clears them from the skin and the tattoo disappears.

From No Straight News

They demonstrated the cancer-detecting tattoo in living mice.

From No Straight News

You can’t walk into a doctor’s office and get a dynamic tattoo yet, but they are on the way.

From No Straight News

The findings revealed that, in 1999, only 21 percent of Americans claimed someone in their household had a tattoo.

From The Daily Beast

Her make-up includes two tattoo-like designs on both temples.

From The Daily Beast

There was one guy who had a tattoo of me on his inner thigh.

From The Daily Beast

Look at The Killing, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, all of these Scandinavian things with female investigators.

From The Daily Beast

Kastigar still had the tattoo, but he had grown a beard and lost a front tooth.

From The Daily Beast

There was a quiet, cynical smile on his face as he sat there beating a tattoo on his leggings with a hickory twig.

From Project Gutenberg

Suddenly the old man beat a tattoo on his cranium and closed his eyes, apparently deep in thought.

From Project Gutenberg

Inside—no sound, except the Factor's deep breathing, and an irregular tattoo, produced by Denton's heels tapping upon the floor.

From Project Gutenberg

But it seemed no use knocking, and Wildney at last, in a fit of impatience, thumped a regular tattoo on the bedroom door.

From Project Gutenberg

Huge black grasshoppers played the jew's-harp, while the owl beat a tattoo on its own body, having no better drum.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• emblem
• symbol