Tattoo Etymology - The History of The Word and The Art of Tattooing

Although tattoos are popular with many social groups in our society but their origins are from very different era. It is believed that tattoo etymology begins in the English language in 1769 with Joseph Banks, the naturalist aboard The Endeavour, explorer Captain James Cook's ship. Whilst sailing throughout Polynesia they took the word tatu from the Tahitian and Samoan languages. In Cook's diary the word is first used as a noun and a verb. Sailors travelling in Polynesia reintroduced the custom into Europe and tattoos were mainly associated with sailors for years (and to some generations still are). Tattooing existed in pre-Christian Germanic and Celtic tribes and was described by Julius Caesar in 54 BC. Today, tattoos are very fashionable for many, but it began in the South Pacific.

When studied in the future, people will find that tattoo is the second most misspelled word on internet searches and is one of the most commonly misspelled words in the English language. It is often spelled tatu, tato, tatoo and tatto. This is the tattoo etymology given by the Oxford English Dictionary. A variety of spellings of the word tattoo have been used in the arts for example band names and clothing designs.

Japanese Tattoo Designs-How to Understand That?

Ancient relics such as clay pottery and statues showed images of Japanese people who were intricately tattooed. Even more fascinating, the first Japanese tattoo designs were found on people of high social standing. Many Japanese historians now agree that the earliest Japanese tattoo designs were utilized in rituals to signify the positions of people in society, as well as to provide ways to protect one's self from evil spirits.

The Japanese people are one of the first great civilizations to incorporate tattooing into their culture. While in China the art of tattooing began as a way to mark off the prisoners and the other outcasts of society, the Japanese tattoos were valued in a different manner from the start.