Olde Line Tattoo Inside the Valley Mall, Hagerstown 240 3474827

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 offers 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 physique modification term is not to be confused with the origins of the word for the military drumbeat or functionality — 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) 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 now mention the way they mark themselves indelibly, 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 initial voyage to Tahiti and New Zealand. In his narrative of the voyage, he refers to an operation known as "tattaw".

Tattoo enthusiasts could refer to tattoos as "ink", "pieces", "skin art", "tattoo art", "tats" or "work"; to the creators as "tattoo artists", "tattooers" or "tattooists"; and to locations exactly where they operate as "tattoo shops", "tattoo studios" or "tattoo parlors".Mainstream art galleries hold exhibitions of both conventional and custom tattoo styles, such as Beyond Skin, at the Museum of Croydon. Copyrighted tattoo designs that are mass-developed and sent to tattoo artists are known as "flash", a notable instance of industrial style.[8] Flash sheets are prominently displayed in several tattoo parlors for the purpose of delivering both inspiration and prepared-made tattoo images to customers.

The Japanese word irezumi signifies "insertion of ink" and can imply tattoos employing tebori, the classic Japanese hand method, a Western-style machine or any strategy of tattooing using insertion of ink. The most frequent word used for classic Japanese tattoo styles is horimono. Japanese could use the word tattoo to mean non-Japanese styles of tattooing.