Symbols of a life of crime: The fading tattoos on Russia\u002639;s gangland prisoners that can be read

Symbols of a life of crime: The fading tattoos on Russia\u002639;s gangland prisoners that can be read $Symbols of a life of crime: The fading tattoos on Russia\u002639;s gangland prisoners that can be read$

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, and so on.) tatau. In Marquesan, tatu." Just before 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 body modification term is not to be confused with the origins of the word for the military drumbeat or performance — see military tattoo. In this case, the English word tattoo is derived from the Dutch word taptoe.The 1st 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 and every 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 1st voyage to Tahiti and New Zealand. In his narrative of the voyage, he refers to an operation called "tattaw".

Tattoo enthusiasts might 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 work as "tattoo shops", "tattoo studios" or "tattoo parlors".Mainstream art galleries hold exhibitions of each conventional and custom tattoo styles, such as Beyond Skin, at the Museum of Croydon. Copyrighted tattoo styles that are mass-developed and sent to tattoo artists are identified as "flash", a notable instance of industrial style.[8] Flash sheets are prominently displayed in many tattoo parlors for the objective of supplying both inspiration and ready-created tattoo photos to consumers.

The Japanese word irezumi implies "insertion of ink" and can imply tattoos utilizing tebori, the traditional Japanese hand approach, a Western-style machine or any approach of tattooing utilizing insertion of ink. The most frequent word employed for classic Japanese tattoo styles is horimono. Japanese may use the word tattoo to imply non-Japanese styles of tattooing.