tattoo

¹

[ ta-too ]

noun

, plural tat·toos.

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 tat·toos.

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)

, tat·tooed, tat·too·ing.

1. to mark (the skin) with tattoos.
2. to put (tattoos) on the skin.

tattoo

¹

/ 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

tattoo

²

/ 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

Derived Forms

• tatˈtooer, noun

Other Words From

• tat·tooer tat·tooist noun
• untat·tooed 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

C18: from Tahitian tatau

Origin of tattoo²

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

Example Sentences

In 2020, he has said, he was forbidden from serving with his National Guard unit during Joe Biden’s inauguration because he has a tattoo of a symbol, the Jerusalem cross, used by white nationalist groups.

From Slate

Hegseth writes in the book that he was removed from his duty guarding Biden’s inauguration because soldiers scrolled through his social media and spotted a tattoo on his chest of a Jerusalem or Deus vult cross, a historic Christian symbol that in recent years has been appropriated by the far-right.

From Los Angeles Times

He got the tattoo, he said, after he saw it on a church while walking in Jerusalem.

From Los Angeles Times

"Ultimately, members of my own unit in leadership deemed that I was an extremist or a white nationalist because of a tattoo I have, which is a religious tattoo. It's a Jerusalem cross," Hegseth claimed, feigning ignorance of the fact that cross has indeed been embraced by far-right activists who imagine themselves fighting a modern-day Crusade.

From Salon

Dressed in faded denim hotpants, a leopard-print bra, with a tattoo snaking up her stomach and across her chest, the 3D computer-generated image reaches out and appears to knock on the window to attract attention.

From BBC

Related Words

• emblem
• symbol