Derrick GooldBrian Murphy
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The less common noun tattoo comes from the Dutch colloquialism "tap toe," which can be translated as "turn off the tap," though it was most often used to mean something like "Shut up! Cease!" The Dutch began using the word taptoe for a drum beat, and then English speakers borrowed the term (changing it slightly, to taptoo and, eventually, to tattoo). It was used especially by the military to name a drum beat (or possibly a bugle call) that signaled the day's end. This taptoo most likely led to our taps, a term for the final bugle call at night in the military.
Examples of tattoo in a Sentence
Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 1 Nov. 2024
Viewers began to question the veracity of the image when some noticed that the mark resembles a picture of a bite tattoo found on Pinterest.
—Lydia Wang, Vulture, 1 Nov. 2024
Rob Wieland, Forbes, 24 Sep. 2024
Many tattoo shops will be open all day and into the night on Friday to be able to tattoo as many people as possible.
—Meredith G. White, The Arizona Republic, 9 Sep. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Tattoo.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tattoo. Accessed 25 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
tattoo
1 of 3 noun
tattoo
2 of 3 verbtattoo
3 of 3 nounNoun
from earlier taptoo "a call to go to quarters for the night," from Dutch taptoe (same meaning), from the phrase tap toe! "taps shut!," used as a signal that the taps, or faucets, on the wine casks in a barroom were closed for the night
Verb
from a word in the Polynesian language of Tahiti tatau (noun) "the act of marking or coloring the skin"
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