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The word tattoo, or tattow in the 18th century, is a loanword from the Samoan wordtatau, which means "to strike". The Oxford English Dictionaryprovides the etymology of tattoo as "In 18th c. tattaow, tattow. FromPolynesian (Samoan, Tahitian, Tongan, and so on.) tatau. InMarquesan, tatu." Just before 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 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 nowmention the way they mark themselves indelibly, each and every 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 hisvery 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 "tattooartists", "tattooers" or "tattooists"; and to areas where they work as "tattoo shops", "tattoostudios" or "tattoo parlors".Mainstream art galleries hold exhibitions of each standard and custom tattoo designs, such as Beyond Skin, at the Museumof Croydon. Copyrighted tattoo designs that are mass-made and sent to tattoo artists are recognized as"flash", a notable instance of industrial design.[8] Flashsheets are prominently displayed in a lot of tattoo parlorsfor the goal of offeringboth inspiration and ready-created tattoopictures to buyers.

The Japanese word irezumi indicates "insertion of ink"and can imply tattoos utilizing tebori, theconventional Japanese handapproach, a Western-style machine or any technique of tattooing employing insertion of ink.The most common word used for traditional Japanese tattoostyles is horimono. Japanese could use the wordtattoo to imply non-Japanese designs of tattooing.