<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section needs additional citations for verification . (July 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section needs additional citations for verification . (July 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> The word tattoo, or tattow in the 18th century, is a loanword from the Samoan word tatau, meaning "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 ." Before the importation of the Polynesian word, the practice of tattooing had been described in the West as painting, scarring, or staining . </P> <P> This 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 . </P>

Where does the word tattoo come from and what does it mean