25 Couple Tattoos Ideas Gallery

The word tattoo, or tattow in the 18th century, is a loanword from the Samoan wordtatau, which means "to strike". The Oxford English Dictionary gives the etymology of tattoo as "In 18th c. tattaow, tattow. FromPolynesian (Samoan, Tahitian, Tongan, etc.) tatau. InMarquesan, tatu." Prior to the importation of thePolynesian word, the practice of tattooing had been described in the West aspainting, scarring or staining.The etymology of the body modification term is not to be confused withthe origins of the word for the military drumbeat or overallperformance — see military tattoo. In this case, theEnglish 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 nowmention the way they mark themselves indelibly, everysingle of them is so marked by their humour or disposition".[5] The word tattoowas brought to Europe by Cook, when he returned in 1769 from his first voyage to Tahiti and New Zealand. In his narrative of the voyage,he refers to an operation referred to as "tattaw".

Tattoo enthusiasts could refer to tattoos as "ink","pieces", "skin art", "tattoo art", "tats" or "work"; to the creators as "tattooartists", "tattooers" or "tattooists"; and to locationsexactly where they operate as "tattoo shops", "tattoostudios" or "tattoo parlors".Mainstream art galleries hold exhibitions of each standard and custom tattoo styles, such as Beyond Skin, at the Museumof Croydon. Copyrighted tattoo styles that are mass-produced and sent to tattoo artists are known as"flash", a notable instance of industrial design.[8] Flashsheets are prominently displayed in numerous tattoo parlorsfor the purpose of supplyingboth inspiration and prepared-created tattoopictures to consumers.

The Japanese word irezumi indicates "insertion of ink"and can mean tattoos making use of tebori, thetraditional Japanese hand method, a Western-style machine or any method of tattooing utilizing insertion of ink.The most widespread wordutilised for traditional Japanese tattoodesigns is horimono. Japanese may possibly use the wordtattoo to imply non-Japanese designs of tattooing.