River City Tattoo in Richmond, Virginia Groupon

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 gives the etymology of tattoo as "In 18th c. tattaow, tattow. From Polynesian (Samoan, Tahitian, Tongan, etc.) tatau. In Marquesan, tatu." Prior to 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 physique modification term is not to be confused with the origins of the word for the military drumbeat or efficiency — see military tattoo. In this case, the English word tattoo is derived from the Dutch word taptoe.The initial 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, each 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 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 "tattoo artists", "tattooers" or "tattooists"; and to areas 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-produced 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 offering each inspiration and ready-created tattoo pictures to clients.

The Japanese word irezumi implies "insertion of ink" and can imply tattoos employing tebori, the standard Japanese hand technique, a Western-style machine or any method of tattooing using insertion of ink. The most frequent word utilized for traditional Japanese tattoo styles is horimono. Japanese could use the word tattoo to imply non-Japanese types of tattooing.