40 Cute Tiny Tattoo Ideas For Girls Tattoo Inspirations Pretty Designs

The word tattoo, or tattow in the 18th century, is a loanword from the Samoan word tatau, which means "to strike". The Oxford English Dictionary offers the etymology of tattoo as "In 18th c. tattaow, tattow. From Polynesian (Samoan, Tahitian, Tongan, etc.) 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 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 first written reference to the word tattoo (or tatau) seems 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 named "tattaw".

Tattoo enthusiasts may possibly refer to tattoos as "ink", "pieces", "skin art", "tattoo art", "tats" or "work"; to the creators as "tattoo artists", "tattooers" or "tattooists"; and to locations where they operate as "tattoo shops", "tattoo studios" or "tattoo parlors".Mainstream art galleries hold exhibitions of both conventional and custom tattoo designs, such as Beyond Skin, at the Museum of Croydon. Copyrighted tattoo styles that are mass-created and sent to tattoo artists are known as "flash", a notable instance of industrial design and style.[8] Flash sheets are prominently displayed in several tattoo parlors for the purpose of providing each inspiration and ready-made tattoo pictures to buyers.

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