• n. 紋身
• vt. 刺花紋于
• vi. 刺花樣

由 18 世紀英國著名航海家庫克船長引入英國，來自太平洋小島某土著語言，其原義可能為 在臉上打的標記或以示懲罰的記號，后引申詞義文身，刺青。比較《水滸傳》。

tattoo

tattoo: English has two words tattoo. The older, ‘military display’ [17], was borrowed from a Dutch word, taptoe, that means literally ‘tap to’, that is, ‘shut the tap’ – a signal to shut off the taps of the beer barrels at closing time in the taverns. By the time it reached English it was being used for a ‘drum beat signalling the time for soldiers to return to their quarters at night’, and in the 18th century it was applied to a ‘military display based on this’. The tattoo on the skin [18] was borrowed from a Polynesian language, such as Tahitian (tatau) or Marquesan (ta-tu).
=> tap

tattoo (v.)

"mark the skin with pigment," 1769, tattow, from tattoo (n.2). Related: Tattooed; tattooing. Thackeray has tattooage.

tattoo (n.1)

"signal calling soldiers or sailors to quarters at night," 1680s, earlier tap-to (1640s), from Dutch taptoe, from tap "faucet of a cask" (see tap (n.1)) + toe "shut, to," from Proto-Germanic *to (see to (prep.)). "So called because police formerly visited taverns in the evening to shut off the taps of casks" [Barnhart]. In 17c. Dutch the phrase apparently was used with a transferred or figurative sense "say no more." In English, transferred sense of "drumbeat" is recorded from 1755. Hence, Devil's tattoo "action of idly drumming fingers in irritation or impatience" (1803).

tattoo (n.2)

"pigment design in skin," 1769 (noun and verb, both first attested in writing of Capt. Cook), from a Polynesian noun (such as Tahitian and Samoan tatau, Marquesan tatu "puncture, mark made on skin"). Century Dictionary (1902) describes them as found on sailors and uncivilized people or as a sentence of punishment.

1. He has a tattoo on the back of his hand.

他手臂上有一文刺.

來自《簡明英漢詞典》

2. He beat a frantic tattoo with his hands on the door.

他用手瘋狂地連續敲門.

來自《簡明英漢詞典》

3. I've decided to get my tattoo removed.

我已經決定去掉我身上的紋身.

來自《簡明英漢詞典》

4. She's having a tattoo done on her leg.

她要在腿上刺紋身.

來自《簡明英漢詞典》

5. In the old days, they would paint and tattoo their bodies for ceremonies.

過去，他們舉行各種儀式前會在身上進行彩繪、文身。

來自柯林斯例句