Etymologically
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tattoo

Etymology and origin of the English word tattoo

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Formation
Borrowing
Borrowed from
Dutch taptoe

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /tæˈtu/ (US)[1]

Etymology

There are two words.[2][3][4][5] The military signal is an alteration of earlier taptoo,[2][3][4][5][6] borrowed from Dutch taptoe (“taps shut”),[2][3][4][5][6] from tap “tap of a cask”[2][3][4] and toe “shut, to”.[2][3][4] The skin marking is of Polynesian origin,[2][3][4] compare Tahitian and Samoan tatau and Marquesan tatu “a mark made on the skin”.[3][4][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A drum or bugle signal in the evening calling soldiers to their quarters (1644 as tap-too; about 1627 in Merriam-Webster).[7][3][4][5]

Semantic evolution

The signal was so called because the police used to visit taverns in the evening to shut off the taps of the casks.[3][4] From the signal came a military entertainment of music and exercises (1742),[7] and any steady drumming or rapping (1755),[7][4] as in the devil's tattoo of impatient fingers (1803).[7][4] The skin sense entered English in 1769 in the writings of Captain James Cook,[4][2][7] first spelled tattow;[3][4] the spelling tattoo is from 1774.[3] Sailors brought the custom to Europe from the Pacific.[2]

Timeline

  • 1644 – tap-too, the evening signal.[7][3][4]
  • 1688 – tattoo, the signal; any drumbeat.[3][7]
  • 1742 – a military entertainment.[7]
  • 1755 – a rapping or pulsation.[7][4]
  • 1769 – verb, to mark the skin (tattow), in Cook.[7][3][4][5]
  • 1769 – noun, the mark or practice.[7][4]
  • 1780 – verb, to drum or rap.[7][5][3]
  • 1803 – devil's tattoo.[7][4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A permanent design on the skin made by inserting pigment through punctures, or by raising scars.
  2. A signal on a drum or bugle calling soldiers or sailors to their quarters at night.
  3. An outdoor military display or pageant, often in the evening.
  4. A continuous, rhythmic drumming or rapping.

Verb

  1. To mark the skin with a tattoo, or to put a tattoo on the skin.
  2. To drum or rap rhythmically.

Word family

  • tattooer
  • tattooist
  • tap
  • taps

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Tattoo.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/tattoo. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·