[ta-too] 
| 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. |
[ta-too] noun, plural -toos, verb, -tooed, -too⋅ing.| 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. |
| 3. | to mark (the skin) with tattoos. |
| 4. | to put (tattoos) on the skin. |
| tat·too 1 (tā-tōō') n. pl. tat·toos
v. intr. To beat out an even rhythm, as with the fingers. v. tr. To beat or tap rhythmically on; rap or drum on. [Alteration of Dutch taptoe, tap-shut (closing time for taverns), tattoo : tap, spigot, tap (from Middle Dutch tappe) + toe, shut (from Middle Dutch; see de- in Indo-European roots).] |
| tat·too 2 (tā-tōō') n. pl. tat·toos
[Of Polynesian origin.] tat·too'er n., tat·too'ist n. 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 for 1769 in Cook's diary. Sailors introduced the custom into Europe from the Pacific societies in which it was practiced, and it has remained associated with sailors, although many landlubbers now get tattoos as well. |
tattoo tat·too (tā-t&oomacr;')
n. 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. v. tat·tooed, tat·too·ing, tat·toos
To mark the skin with a tattoo.
To form a tattoo on the skin.
