How Much do Tattoos Cost? 6 Factors to Consider First

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 functionality — 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 called "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 areasexactly 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 designs that are mass-made and sent to tattoo artists are known as"flash", a notable instance of industrial style.[8] Flashsheets are prominently displayed in numerous tattoo parlorsfor the objective of offeringeach inspiration and prepared-produced tattooimages to customers.

The Japanese word irezumi means "insertion of ink"and can imply tattoos using tebori, theconventional Japanese hand technique, a Western-style machine or any approach of tattooing employing insertion of ink.The most widespread word used for standard Japanese tattoodesigns is horimono. Japanese might use the wordtattoo to mean non-Japanese types of tattooing.