White Tiger Tattoos Designs, Ideas and Meaning Tattoos For You

The word tattoo, or tattow in the 18th century, is a loanword from the Samoan word tatau, meaning "to strike". The Oxford English Dictionary gives the etymology of tattoo as "In 18th c. tattaow, tattow. From Polynesian (Samoan, Tahitian, Tongan, and so on.) tatau. In Marquesan, tatu." Just before the importation of the Polynesian word, the practice of tattooing had been described in the West as painting, scarring or staining.The etymology of the physique modification term is not to be confused with the origins of the word for the military drumbeat or performance — see military tattoo. In this case, the English word tattoo is derived from the Dutch word taptoe.The very first written reference to the word tattoo (or tatau) appears in the journal of Joseph Banks (24 February 1743 – 19 June 1820), the naturalist aboard explorer James Cook's ship HMS Endeavour: "I shall now mention the way they mark themselves indelibly, every of them is so marked by their humour or disposition".[5] The word tattoo was brought to Europe by Cook, when he returned in 1769 from his initial voyage to Tahiti and New Zealand. In his narrative of the voyage, he refers to an operation known as "tattaw".

Tattoo enthusiasts may refer to tattoos as "ink", "pieces", "skin art", "tattoo art", "tats" or "work"; to the creators as "tattoo artists", "tattooers" or "tattooists"; and to areas where they function as "tattoo shops", "tattoo studios" or "tattoo parlors".Mainstream art galleries hold exhibitions of each conventional and custom tattoo designs, such as Beyond Skin, at the Museum of Croydon. Copyrighted tattoo designs that are mass-made and sent to tattoo artists are identified as "flash", a notable instance of industrial style.[8] Flash sheets are prominently displayed in a lot of tattoo parlors for the purpose of offering both inspiration and ready-produced tattoo images to consumers.

The Japanese word irezumi signifies "insertion of ink" and can mean tattoos using tebori, the classic Japanese hand technique, a Western-style machine or any strategy of tattooing making use of insertion of ink. The most common word utilized for classic Japanese tattoo designs is horimono. Japanese could use the word tattoo to mean non-Japanese designs of tattooing.