tattoo

¹ American  

[ta-too] / tæˈtu /

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.

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tattoo ² American  

[ta-too] / tæˈtu /

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.

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verb (used with object)

tattooed, tattooing

1. to mark (the skin) with tattoos.

2. to put (tattoos) on the skin.

tattoo ¹ British  

/ 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

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tattoo ² British  

/ tæˈtuː /

verb

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

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noun

1. a design made by this process

2. the practice of tattooing

Other Word Forms

• tattooer noun
• tattooist noun
• untattooed adjective

Etymology

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

Explanation

A tattoo is a permanent design made on skin with a needle and ink. If you want a butterfly tattoo but you're scared of needles, you might settle for a temporary version. The word tattoo is also a verb meaning stain the skin using needles and ink. It's probably a good idea to wait until you've been dating someone for more than a week before you tattoo their name on your arm. In music, a tattoo is continuous drumming, and a military tattoo is a drum or bugle that signals soldiers to return to their quarters at the end of the day.

Example Sentences

Platner’s tattoo, then, is a particularly charged showdown between vectors of progressivism headed in opposite directions—the old world and the new.

From Slate • Apr. 13, 2026

At the weekly gathering, which features a food vendor, cocktails, tattoo artists and DJs, you can “competitively play chess, learn the game, meet new friends or mingle as a single person,” Thompson shares.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 23, 2026

It shows the singer sitting on a stool wearing a polka dot puffer jacket and boots revealing a tattoo on her left leg.

From BBC • Mar. 20, 2026

If you get a stud in your navel or a little tattoo on your ankle, you aren’t likely to look back later and kick yourself.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026

His sleeves are rolled all the way down today, so I don’t see his compass tattoo.

From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed

Related Words

• emblem
• symbol