Tattoo
What is a tattoo?
A tattoo is a form of permanent or temporary body modification created by inserting ink, dyes, or pigments into the dermis layer of the skin to produce designs, marks, or symbols.
How Tattoos Are Made
Tattoos are created by using needles to puncture the skin and deposit ink below the epidermis, into the deeper dermis layer. This process can be performed manually or with modern tattoo machines that rapidly move the needle up and down.
Types and Meanings
- Tattoos may serve decorative, symbolic, pictorial, or textual purposes.
- They can carry personal meaning, convey group membership, show rank or status, celebrate rites of passage, or act as expressions of art.
- Functional tattoos include permanent makeup, medical tattoos (for radiotherapy marking, vitiligo coverage, medical identification), and traumatic tattoos which result from accidental injuries.
Origins and Terminology
- The word "tattoo" comes from the Polynesian Samoan “tatau,” meaning “to strike,” referring to the traditional tattooing process.
- Tattooing dates back to Neolithic times and has played various cultural roles around the world.
Modern Use
- Tattoos are now common for artistic, personal, cosmetic, sentimental, religious, and spiritual reasons.
- They are popular with people of all ages in many countries and are a major part of today’s fashion and personal expression.
The origin and meaning of the word "tattoo"
The modern English word “tattoo” comes from Polynesian languages (especially Tahitian and Samoan tatau), which mean “to mark,” “to tap,” or “to strike,” referring to the tapping of the tattooing tools into the skin. There is also a completely separate older English word “tattoo” meaning a military drum signal, which comes from a 17th‑century Dutch phrase about “turning off the taps” in taverns, but this is unrelated in origin to body art even though it looks the same in modern spelling.
Polynesian origins
In Tahitian, Samoan, and related Polynesian languages, tatau or tatu describes both the act of puncturing the skin and the resulting mark or design. The term is closely tied to traditional tattooing methods, where a comb‑like tool is struck with a mallet, so the meaning “to strike” or “to tap” reflects the sound and action of the process.
Entry into English
The word entered English in the late 18th century, first written as “tattow” or “tattaow” in accounts of Pacific voyages, especially those of Captain James Cook in Tahiti and other Polynesian islands. Before this borrowing, English speakers described the practice with terms like pricking or staining; only after contact with Polynesia did “tattoo” become the standard word for permanent skin marking.
Military “tattoo” as a homonym
Separately, English had already used “tattoo” since the 1600s for an evening drum or bugle signal calling soldiers back to quarters. This military sense comes from Dutch taptoe (“close the tap”), a phrase used when shutting taverns at night, and is historically independent from the Polynesian tatau even though the two became spelled the same in English.
Summary of meanings
So, for body art, “tattoo” ultimately means “to strike/mark the skin” and reflects Polynesian tattooing practice and sound symbolism. For the older military sense, “tattoo” refers to a drum or bugle call linked to “turn off the taps,” and its resemblance to the body‑art word is an accidental convergence of spelling, not a shared origin.
Tattoo
Ататуаж • Tato • Haxxa • Tatoeëring • Tatuazh • ንቅሳት • وشم • টেটু • टैटू • Татуировка • Tatu • ٹیٹو • Tatouaji • Tatuajea • Ukulemba • ট্যাটু • गोदना गोदवावे के बा • Tetovaža • Tatouadur • တက်တူး • Chizindikiro cha thupi • Tetování • Tatovering • خالکوبی • Thuur • ŋɛɲɛ • ޓެޓޫ ޖަހާށެވެ • गोदना गोदना • བརྐོས། • Tatuo • Tätoveering • Tattoo wɔwɔ • Tatuointi • Nǔɖe dó wutú • Tatouage • Tatuaç • Tatoeaazje • Tatoo • Tatuaxe • Τατουάζ • ტატუ • Tatuaje rehegua • ટેટૂ • Tatou • Zane-zanen jarfa • Peʻa • לְקַעֲקֵעַ • टटू • Kos duab • Tatoeëren • Tetovaža • Egbugbu egbugbu • Timimut titiqtugaq • ᑎᒥᒧᑦ ᑎᑎᖅᑐᒐᖅ • Tatú • Húðflúr • 入れ墨 • טאַטוירונג • Ìlànà ara • Tatuaje • ಹಚ್ಚೆ • 紋身 • Bortə • Tatuatge • សាក់ • 纹身 • गोंदण करप • 문신 • Tatuaggio • Tatuirovka • Tatu we dɛn mek • Deq • تاتۆ • ຮອຍສັກ • Tetoviejums • Tatuage • Tatuaż • Tetovējums • Tatoeage • Tattoo na yango • Tatuiruotė • Tatuagg • Тетоважа • Tetoválás • गोदना गोदना • Tombokavatsa • تاتو • ടാറ്റൂ • Tatwaġġ • Tā moko • Tatwaz • ꯇꯦꯇꯨ ꯇꯧꯕꯥ꯫ • Татуировко • Tattoo siam a ni • Шивээс • ߢߜ߭ߍ • Ithathu • Tätowieren • ट्याटु • Tatovering • ଟାଟୋ • Tatuatge • Татуировкæ • Դաջվածք • ਟੈਟੂ • ٹیٹو • Tatuahe • Tatuagem • Tatuaj • Ibara ry'umubiri • Tattoo ya • Tatwaz • ႁွႆးတႅမ်ႈႁၢင်ႈ • Tatù • Tatuering • Ithathu • Tatoveren • Pe'a • गोदना • Taṭu • ᱴᱟᱴᱴᱩ • Тетоважа • Tatuaggiu • ٽتو • පච්චය • Tetovanie • Tetovaža • Mongolo o chesitsoeng • Тату • Aẓayer • ⴰⵥⴰⵡⴰⵏ • பச்சை குத்துதல் • టాటూ • Tatuajen • สัก • རྨ་ཁ། • ንቕሳት • Dövme • Thathu • ಟ್ಯಾಟೂ • Tatuirowka • Tattoo a wɔde yɛ nneɛma • تاتۇ • Татуювання • ٹیٹو • Tatuirovka • Tatuajo • Hình xăm • Tatuwaas • Tatŵ • Umvambo • I-tattoo