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tattoo - 12 dictionary results
tat⋅too
1
[ta-too] 
–noun, plural -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. |
Origin:
1570–80; earlier taptoo < D taptoe lit., the tap(room) is to (i.e., shut)
1570–80; earlier taptoo < D taptoe lit., the tap(room) is to (i.e., shut)
tat⋅too
2 [ta-too] noun, plural -toos, verb, -tooed, -too⋅ing.–noun
| 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)
| 3. | to mark (the skin) with tattoos. |
| 4. | to put (tattoos) on the skin. |
Origin:
1760–70; < Marquesan tatu; r. tattow < Tahitian tatau
1760–70; < Marquesan tatu; r. tattow < Tahitian tatau
Related forms:
tat⋅too⋅er, tat⋅too⋅ist, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To tattoo
| 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. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Tattoo
Tat*too"\, n. [Earlier taptoo, D. taptoe; tap a tap, faucet + toe to, shut (i. e., the taps, or drinking houses, shut from the soldiers).] (Mil.) A beat of drum, or sound of a trumpet or bugle, at night, giving notice to soldiers to retreat, or to repair to their quarters in garrison, or to their tents in camp. The Devil's tattoo. See under Devil.Tattoo
Tat*too"\, n.; pl. Tattoos. An indelible mark or figure made by puncturing the skin and introducing some pigment into the punctures; -- a mode of ornamentation practiced by various barbarous races, both in ancient and modern times, and also by some among civilized nations, especially by sailors.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : tattoo
Spanish:
tatuar,
German:
tätowieren,
Japanese:
入れ墨をする
tattoo (1)
"signal," 1688, "signal calling soldiers or sailors to quarters at night," earlier tap-to (1644, in order of Col. Hutchinson to garrison of Nottingham), from Du. taptoe, from tap "faucet of a cask" (see tap (2)) + toe "shut." So called because police used to visit taverns in the evening to shut off the taps of casks. Transf. sense of "drumbeat" is recorded from 1755. Hence, Devil's tattoo "action of idly drumming fingers in irritation or impatience" (1803).
tattoo (2)
"mark the skin with pigment," 1769 (noun and ver, both first attested in writing of Capt. Cook), from a Polynesian noun (e.g. Tahitian and Samoan tatau, Marquesan tatu "puncture, mark made on skin").
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: 1tat·too
Pronunciation: ta-'tü
Function: transitive verb
: to mark or color (the skin) with tattoos <tattoo theskin to conceal a port-wine stain>
Main Entry: 2tattoo
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural tattoos
: an indelible mark or figure fixed upon the body by insertion of pigmentunder the skin or by production of scars
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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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.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
