tattoo

¹

[ta-too]

noun

plural

tattoos 

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

tattoos 

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)

tattooed, tattooing 

1. to mark (the skin) with tattoos.

2. to put (tattoos) on the skin.

tattoo

¹

/ 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

tattoo

²

/ 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

Other Word Forms

• tattooer noun
• tattooist noun
• untattooed 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

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

Origin of tattoo²

C18: from Tahitian tatau

Example Sentences

And never mind that the president is making personal laws and dispensing arbitrary justice, have you seen the tattoo on the chest of that Democratic candidate for Senate in Maine?

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

"I always wanted to be an actor -- but unfortunately that's not the life I ended up living," explains Pagan, prison tattoos peeking out from the short sleeves of his jailhouse-issue blue shirt.

Read more on Barron's

But beneath Sophie’s polished facade lurks a yearning for danger symbolized by the panther tattoo on her thigh.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Today, the tiny community of about 600 households has a tattoo parlor, a bunch of in-home businesses and a few churches.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

A Democratic Senate candidate in Maine said he covered up a chest tattoo he got 18 years ago after he recently learned it looked like a Nazi symbol.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• emblem 
• symbol