tattoo

/tæˈtuː/

Etymology

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

noun

  1. An image made on a body part, usually the skin with ink and a needle.“His shirt sleeves were turned up, so upon his brawny arms his tattooes were visible.”
  2. A method of decorating a body part, usually the skin, by inserting colored substances under the surface with a sharp instrument (usually a solenoid-driven needle).
  3. A signal played five minutes before taps (lights out).“Study goes on until tattoo, which, when Pops was at the Point, was sounded at 9.30, followed by taps at 10.”
  4. A signal by drum or bugle ordering soldiers to return to their quarters.“The bumblebee's mane glowed in the morning light—each hair sharp and distinct to Eragon—and its blurred wings generated a gentle bombilation, like a tattoo played on a drum.”
  5. A military display or pageant.
  6. A rhythmic tapping.“the right hand became restless and began to beat out a silent tattoo upon the tabletop”

verb

  1. To apply a tattoo to (someone or something).“She made Silas tattoo an anchor on her arm like his”
  2. 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.”
  3. To tap rhythmically on, to drum.“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 […]”