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Definition and Origin of the English word:
Tattoo
SYLLABICATION: tat·too
PRONUNCIATION:
NOUN: Inflected forms: pl. tat·toos
- A permanent mark or design made on the skin by a process of pricking and ingraining an indelible pigment or by raising scars.
- A design made on the skin with a temporary dye such as henna or ink.
TRANSITIVE VERB: Inflected forms: tat·tooed, tat·too·ing, tat·toos
- To mark (the skin) with a tattoo. 2. To form (a tattoo) on the skin.
ETYMOLOGY: Of Polynesian origin.
OTHER FORMS:
- tat·tooer —NOUN
- tat·tooist —NOUN
WORD HISTORY: Although the practice of tattooing the body is very old, the English word tattoo is relatively new. The explorer Captain James Cook (who also gave us the word taboo) introduced the word to English speakers in his account of a voyage around the world from 1768 to 1771. Like taboo, tattoo comes from Polynesian languages such as Tahitian and Samoan. The earliest use of the verb tattoo in English is found in an entry from 1769 in Cook's diary, "they print signs on people's body and call this tattow."
In all the Polynesian Islands of the South Pacific the old tattoo tradition is well and alive. From Tahiti comes the word: Tattoo. They called it "tatau", like the sound of the repetitive ta-ta beat with a hand or stick against the tool to which pushes the color into the skin.
1595: European explorers discover Polynesian tattooing
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The early Spanish explorer Mendana discovered the Fenua Enana Islands in 1595. However, the first descriptions of Polynesian tattooing were written almost 2 centuries later by English Captain Samuel Wallis, French explorer Bougainville and English Captain Cook.
In 1767, Wallis had noticed it was a "universal custom among men and women to get their buttocks and the back of their thighs painted with thin black lines representing different figures". The next year (1768) Bougainville reported,"the women of Tahiti dye their loins and buttocks a deep blue." Later, in 1769, Captain Cook while on his trip to the Marquises Islands, finally brought this art a name by writting in his diary "they print signs on people's body and call this tattow."
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Since Captain Cook came to Tahiti, the word has spread from English to most other languages.
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Tahiti: Tatau
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| Brazilian: Tatuagem |
Danish: Tatovering |
Dutch: Tatoeage |
| English: Tattoo |
Estonian: Tätoveering |
Finnish: Tatuointi |
| Frensh: Tatouage |
German: Tätowierung |
Hawaiian: Kakau |
| Hungarian: Tetova'la's |
Italian: Tatua'ggio |
Lithuanian: Tatiuruote |
| Norwegian: Tatovering |
Polish: Tatuaz |
Portugese: Tatuagem |
| Spanish: Tatuaje |
Swedish: Tatuering |
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