tattoo

tattoo

See also: Tattoo

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tæˈtuː/, /təˈtuː/

• Audio (RP)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uː

Etymology 1

A tattoo (image made in skin)

From earlier tattaow, tattow, a borrowing from a Polynesian language, e.g. Samoan tatau (“tattoo; to tap, to strike”).

Noun

tattoo (plural tattoos)

1. An image made in the skin with ink and a needle.
   • 1997, Carlin, George, Brain Droppings‎, New York: Hyperion Books, →ISBN, LCCN 96-52373, OCLC 36084460, OL 26335012M, page 31:

     And here's a solution to an age old tattoo problem. If your girlfriend's name, say, "Suzie," is tattooed on your arm, and you break up with her, don't have the tattoo removed. Just have the tattoo reworked so it says, "Fuck Suzie."

2. A method of decorating the skin by inserting colored substances under the surface with a sharp instrument (usually a solenoid-driven needle).

Derived terms

• sleeve tattoo
• tat
• tatt
• vattoo

Translations

an image made in the skin with ink and a needle

Abkhaz: ацәанҵа́ (acʷancʼá) Afrikaans: tatoe,Tatoeëermerk Albanian: tatuazh (sq) m Arabic: وَشْم‎ (ar) m (wašm) Armenian: դաջվածք (hy) (daǰvackʿ) Assamese: please add this translation if you can Asturian: tatuaxe m Azerbaijani: döymə (az), tatuirovka Belarusian: татуіро́ўка f (tatuiróŭka), тату́ n (tatú) Bengali: উল্কি (bn) (ulki) Bulgarian: татуиро́вка (bg) f (tatuiróvka) Burmese: ထိုးကွင်း (my) (htui:kwang:) Catalan: tatuatge (ca) m Chinese: Cantonese: 紋身, 纹身 (man4 san1), 刺青 (ci3 ceng1) Mandarin: 刺青 (zh) (cìqīng), 紋身／纹身 (zh) (wénshēn), 文身 (zh) (wénshēn) (formal) Czech: tetování (cs) n Danish: tatovering c Dutch: tatoeage (nl) f Esperanto: tatuo Estonian: tätoveering Faroese: litprikan f, tatovering f Finnish: tatuointi (fi) French: tatouage (fr) m Galician: tatuaxe f Georgian: სვირინგი (sviringi) German: Tätowierung (de) f, Tattoo (de) n Greek: τατουάζ (el) n (tatouáz), (archaic) κατάστιξη (el) (katástixi) Ancient: στίγμα n (stígma), στίξις f (stíxis) (Byzantine) Gujarati: છુંદણું n (chundṇũ) Hawaiian: kākau Hebrew: כְּתוֹבֶת קַעֲקַע‎ (he) (któvet qá'qa') Hindi: गोदना (hi) m (godnā) Hungarian: tetoválás (hu), tetkó (hu) Icelandic: húðflúr (is) n, tattú (is) n, tattó (is) n Ido: tatuo (io) Indonesian: tato (id), rajah (id) Inuktitut: ᑲᑭᓃᑦ (kakiniit), kakiniit Irish: tatú m Italian: tatuaggio (it) m Japanese: 刺青 (ja), 入れ墨 (ja), 文身 (ja) (いれずみ, irezumi), タトゥー (tatū) Kazakh: дене әшекейі (dene äşekeiı), татуировка (tatuirovka) Khmer: សាក់ (km) (sak) Korean: 문신(文身) (ko) (munsin), 타투 (tatu) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: deq (ku) f Kyrgyz: татуировка (tatuirovka) Lakota: oákitȟo Latvian: tetovējums m Lithuanian: tatuiruotė Macedonian: тетова́жа f (tetováža) Malay: tatu Maori: moko, kiri tuhi (non-traditional) Marathi: टॅटू (ṭĕṭū) Mongolian: шивээс (mn) (šivees) Nepali: ट्याटू (ṭyāṭū) Norman: tatouage m Norwegian: tatovering m Pashto: خالوهنه‎ f (xālwahǝ́na) Persian: خال‌کوبی‎ (xâl-kubi), تتو‎ (tatu), وشام‎ (vešâm), وشم‎ (fa) (vašm) Polish: tatuaż (pl) m, dziara (pl) f Portuguese: tatuagem (pt) f Romanian: tatuaj (ro) n Romansch: tetovaziun f, tatuaziun f Russian: татуиро́вка (ru) f (tatuiróvka), нако́лка (ru) f (nakólka) (colloquial), тату́ (ru) n (tatú) Samoan: tatau (sm) Serbo-Croatian: Roman: tetováža (sh) f Cyrillic: тетова́жа f Slovak: tetovanie n Slovene: tetoviranje Spanish: tatuaje (es) m Swedish: tatuering (sv) c Tagalog: pika, tato Tahitian: tatau Tajik: вашм (vašm), холкӯбӣ (xolkübī) Tetum: tatuajen Thai: รอยสัก (rɔɔi-sàk) Tongan: tā-tatau Turkish: dövme (tr) Turkmen: tatuirowka Ukrainian: татуюва́ння n (tatujuvánnja), тату́ n (tatú) Urdu: گودنا‎ m (godnā) Uzbek: tatuirovka (uz) Vietnamese: xăm (vi) ǃXóõ: ǁáa

method of decorating the skin by inserting colored substances under the surface

Albanian: tatuazh (sq) m Armenian: դաջում (hy) (daǰum) Belarusian: татуі́раванне n (tatuíravannje) Bulgarian: татуиране n (tatuirane) Chinese: Mandarin: 刺青 (zh) (cìqīng) Finnish: tatuointi (fi) German: Tätowieren n Greek: δερματοστιξία (el) f (dermatostixía) Gujarati: છુંદણું છુંદાવવું (chundṇũ chundāvvũ) Ido: tatuo (io) Khmer: ការសាក់លើស្បែក (kaa sak ləə sbaek) Latvian: tetovēšana f Nepali: ट्याटू खोप्नु (ṭyāṭū khopnu) Macedonian: тетовирање n (tetoviranje) Russian: татуи́рование (ru) n (tatuírovanije) Serbo-Croatian: tetoviranje (sh) n Swedish: tatuering (sv) c Tajik: вашмкунӣ (vašmkunī), холкӯбӣ (xolkübī) Thai: การสัก (th) (gaan-sàk) Ukrainian: татуюва́ння n (tatujuvánnja)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

North Marquesan: (please verify) tatu South Marquesan: (please verify) tatu

Verb

tattoo (third-person singular simple present tattoos, present participle tattooing, simple past and past participle tattooed)

1. To apply a tattoo to (someone or something).
2. (baseball) To hit the ball hard, as if to figuratively leave a tattoo on the ball.

   Jones tattoos one into the gap in left; that will clear the bases.

Derived terms

• screwed, blued and tattooed
• screwed, glued and tattooed

Derived terms

Terms derived from the noun or verb tattoo

• tattoo artist
• tattoo parlour
• tattooer
• tattooist

Translations

to apply a tattoo

Arabic: وَشَمَ‎ (ar) (wašama), وَشَّمَ‎ (ar) (waššama) Armenian: դաջել (hy) (daǰel), կտածել (hy) (ktacel) Asturian: tatuar Bulgarian: татуирам (tatuiram) Burmese: please add this translation if you can Catalan: tatuar (ca) Chinese: 刺 (zh) (cì) Mandarin: 刺青 (zh) (cìqīng), 刺 (zh) (cì) Czech: tetovat Dutch: tatoeëren (nl) Faroese: litprika, tatovera Finnish: tatuoida (fi) French: tatouer (fr) Galician: tatuar (gl) Georgian: სვირინგი (sviringi) German: tätowieren (de) Greek: στίζω (el) (stízo) Ancient: στίζω (stízō) Hawaiian: kākau Hungarian: tetovál (hu) Icelandic: húðflúra, tattóvera, tattúera Ido: tatuar (io) Irish: tatuálaim Italian: tatuare (it) Khmer: សាក់លើស្បែក (sak ləə sbaek) Latvian: tetovēt Lithuanian: tatuiruoti Macedonian: тетови́ра (tetovíra) Malayalam: പച്ചകുത്തുക (ml) (paccakuttuka) Maori: tā, tā moko Navajo: akʼeʼełchí Norman: tatouer Norwegian: tatovere Persian: خال کوبیدن‎ Polish: robić tatuaż, tatuować (pl) Portuguese: tatuar (pt) Romanian: tatua (ro) Russian: татуи́ровать (ru) impf or pf (tatuírovatʹ), вы́татуировать (ru) pf (výtatuirovatʹ) Serbo-Croatian: tetovirati (sh) Slovak: tetovať impf Spanish: tatuar (es) Swedish: tatuera (sv) Thai: สัก (th) (sàk) Turkish: dövme yapmak (tr) Yiddish: טאַטויִרן‎ (tatuirn)

Further reading

• tattoo on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 2

From earlier tap-to, borrowed from Dutch taptoe, from tap (“tap; faucet on a cask”) + toe (“to; shut”). More at tap, to.

Noun

tattoo (countable and uncountable, plural tattoos)

1. (nautical) A signal played five minutes before taps (lights out).
   • 2017, Charles King, Cadet Days

     Study goes on until tattoo, which, when Pops was at the Point, was sounded at 9.30, followed by taps at 10.

2. (military) A signal by drum or bugle ordering soldiers to return to their quarters.
3. (military) A military display or pageant.

Translations

time to close the taps

Dutch: taptoe (nl) m Finnish: hiljaisuus (fi) German: Zapfenstreich (de) n

signal

Bulgarian: вечерна заря f (večerna zarja) Dutch: taptoe (nl) m Finnish: iltasoitto, tattoo (fi) German: Zapfenstreich (de) n Greek: τυμπανοκρουσία (el) f (tympanokrousía) Irish: dord na hoíche m Spanish: retreta f Swedish: tapto (sv) n Ukrainian: вечірня зоря f (večirnja zorja), барабанний дріб m (barabannyj drib)

military display or pageant

Dutch: taptoe (nl) m Finnish: paraati (fi) German: Großer Zapfenstreich (de) n Irish: tóstal oíche m Latvian: paraugdemonstrējumi m pl Maori: ngārahu Spanish: parada (es) f Swedish: tapto (sv) n Ukrainian: військовий парад m (vijsʹkovyj parad)

Verb

tattoo (third-person singular simple present tattoos, present participle tattooing, simple past and past participle tattooed)

1. To tap rhythmically on, to drum.
   • 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 22, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, OCLC 3174108:

     He had looked at the clock many scores of times; and at the street, where the rain was pattering down, and the people as they clinked by in pattens, left long reflections on the shining stone: he tattooed at the table: he bit his nails most completely […]

Further reading

• military tattoo on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 3

From Hindi टट्टू (ṭaṭṭū).

Noun

tattoo (plural tattoos)

1. A pony of a certain breed from India.