tattoo English · revision 2069
15 Oct 2026, 02:20 by bogdan “Redone from scratch with separate homographs”
Changes in this edit
@@ -1,42 +1,75 @@
+ English has two words spelled ''tattoo'': the evening drum signal, from Dutch, and the mark on the skin, from Polynesian.^(AHD 2000)^(Barnhart 1988)^(COED 2004)^(Cresswell 2021)
+
==Pronunciation==
− * IPA: /tæˈtu/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA: UK /tæˈtuː/, /təˈtuː/, US /tæˈtuː/^(Roach et al. 2011)
+
+ {{homograph|1|drum signal}}
+
+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1644 (as tap-too)|origins=nl taptoe}}
==Etymology==
− There are two words.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) The military signal is an alteration of earlier ''taptoo'',^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[bor|nl|taptoe|t=taps shut]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from ''tap'' “tap of a cask”^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) and ''toe'' “shut, to”.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) The skin marking is of Polynesian origin,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) compare Tahitian and Samoan ''tatau'' and Marquesan ''tatu'' “a mark made on the skin”.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)
+ The drum signal is an alteration of earlier tap-too,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) [[bor|nl|taptoe|t=taps shut!]], the call to close the taverns,^(AHD 2000)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from [[m|nl|tap|t=tap of a cask]] and [[m|nl|toe|t=to, shut]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) The Dutch phrase was [[m|nl|doe den tap toe|t=close the tap]].^(Cresswell 2021)^(Hoad 1986) The first syllable was later altered from tap- to tat-.^(Barnhart 1988)
==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).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)
+ A signal by drum or bugle in the evening, calling soldiers to their quarters, recorded in 1644 as ''tap-too'';^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)^(HTOED) Merriam-Webster dates the word to about 1627.^(MWU 2024)^(MW Collegiate)
==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.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) From the signal came a military entertainment of music and exercises (1742),^(OED 1989) and any steady drumming or rapping (1755),^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) as in the ''devil's tattoo'' of impatient fingers (1803).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The skin sense entered English in 1769 in the writings of Captain James Cook,^(Etymonline)^(AHD)^(OED 1989) first spelled ''tattow'';^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) the spelling ''tattoo'' is from 1774.^(Barnhart 1995) Sailors brought the custom to Europe from the Pacific.^(AHD)
+ It was so called because the police used to visit the taverns in the evening and turn off the taps of the casks, so that drinking was over and soldiers had to go home.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) The spelling ''tattoo'' is recorded from 1688, when it also meant any drumbeat given as an alarm or to attract attention.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) The signal was elaborated into a military entertainment of music, marching and exercises by 1742.^(OED 1989)^(HTOED) Any steady beating or rapping was a ''tattoo'' from 1755,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and the ''devil's tattoo'', an idle drumming of the fingers in impatience, from 1803.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The verb, to beat a drum or rap continuously, is from 1780.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)
==Timeline==
− * 1644 – ''tap-too'', the evening signal.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)
− * 1688 – ''tattoo'', the signal; any drumbeat.^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)
− * 1742 – a military entertainment.^(OED 1989)
− * 1755 – a rapping or pulsation.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)
− * 1769 – verb, to mark the skin (''tattow''), in Cook.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)
− * 1769 – noun, the mark or practice.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)
− * 1780 – verb, to drum or rap.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)
+ * 1644 – ''tap-too'', the evening signal.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)
+ * 1688 – ''tattoo''; a drumbeat as an alarm.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)
+ * 1742 – a military entertainment.^(OED 1989)^(HTOED)
+ * 1755 – a steady beating or rapping.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)
+ * 1780 – verb, to beat (a drum), to thump.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)
* 1803 – ''devil's tattoo''.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)
==Modern meaning==
===Noun===
− # A permanent design on the skin made by inserting pigment through punctures, or by raising scars.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
− # A signal on a drum or bugle calling soldiers or sailors to their quarters at night.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
− # An outdoor military display or pageant, often in the evening.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
− # A continuous, rhythmic drumming or rapping.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ # A signal on a [[drum]] or [[bugle]] calling soldiers or sailors to their quarters at night.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)
+ # An evening military display of music and marching.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)
+ # A steady, rhythmic drumming or rapping.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)
===Verb===
− # To mark the skin with a tattoo, or to put a tattoo on the skin.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
− # To drum or rap rhythmically.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)
+ # To beat or tap out a rhythm (on).^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)
+
+ {{homograph|2|mark on the skin}}
+
+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1769 (James Cook)}}
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ The mark on the skin is a borrowing from a Polynesian language,^(AHD 2000)^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002) compare Tahitian, Samoan and Tongan ta-tau and Marquesan ta-tu,^(SOED 2002)^(NODE 1998)^(Barnhart 1988) “a puncture, a mark made on the skin”.^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster traces it to Tahitian tatau,^(MWU 2024) and Random House to Marquesan tatu, replacing an earlier tattow from Tahitian.^(RHWU)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ The verb, to mark the skin, is first recorded in 1769, in the journal of Captain James Cook, in the form tattow;^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(AHD 2000) the noun for the practice or the mark is recorded in Cook's writing the same year.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ The practice is prehistoric, but the word came into English only with Cook's voyage of 1768–1771, which also brought [[taboo]].^(AHD 2000) The spelling ''tattoo'' is recorded from 1774.^(Barnhart 1988) Sailors brought the custom to Europe from the Pacific, and it long remained associated with them.^(AHD 2000) Before the Polynesian word, tattoos on the arms of pilgrims to the Holy Land were called ''Jerusalem crosses'' (1690s) or ''Jerusalem letters'' (1760).^(Etymonline) The verb was used figuratively, “to mark or stain permanently”, from 1774.^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 1769 – verb, ''tattow'', in Cook's journal.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)
+ * 1769 – noun, the practice or the mark.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)
+ * 1774 – the spelling ''tattoo''; verb, to mark or stain permanently.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)
+ * 1777 – noun, the act of tattooing.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)
+
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A permanent design on the skin made by pricking in [[pigment]] or by raising scars.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)
+
+ ===Verb===
+ # To mark (the skin or a person) with a tattoo.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)
+ # To make (a design) on the skin in this way.^(AHD)
==Word family==
* [[tattooer]]
* [[tattooist]]
+ * [[tattooing]]
==Related words==
* [[tap]]
− * [[taps]]
+ * [[taboo]]
+
+ ==Usage notes==
+ A third, unrelated ''tattoo'' is a native-bred Indian pony (1784), [[bor|hi|टट्टू|tr=ṭaṭṭū]].^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024)
==References==