155 Lotus Flower Tattoo Designs

The word tattoo, or tattow in the 18th century, is a loanword from the Samoan word tatau, meaning "to strike". The Oxford English Dictionary offers the etymology of tattoo as "In 18th c. tattaow, tattow. From Polynesian (Samoan, Tahitian, Tongan, and so on.) tatau. In Marquesan, tatu." 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 body modification term is not to be confused with the origins of the word for the military drumbeat or overall performance — see military tattoo. In this case, the English word tattoo is derived from the Dutch word taptoe.The initial 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, each 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 very first 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 perform as "tattoo shops", "tattoo studios" or "tattoo parlors".Mainstream art galleries hold exhibitions of both traditional and custom tattoo styles, such as Beyond Skin, at the Museum of Croydon. Copyrighted tattoo designs that are mass-developed and sent to tattoo artists are recognized as "flash", a notable instance of industrial design and style.[8] Flash sheets are prominently displayed in several tattoo parlors for the goal of delivering both inspiration and ready-made tattoo images to buyers.

The Japanese word irezumi means "insertion of ink" and can imply tattoos using tebori, the conventional Japanese hand approach, a Western-style machine or any method of tattooing employing insertion of ink. The most common word used for traditional Japanese tattoo styles is horimono. Japanese may use the word tattoo to mean non-Japanese types of tattooing.