Tattow
/təˈtaʊ/noun
An obsolete English spelling of tattoo, meaning a permanent design made by inserting pigment into the skin.
Did you know?The spelling “tattow” appeared in eighteenth-century European accounts of Polynesian body marking, especially those associated with Captain Cook’s voyages, before “tattoo” became dominant.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Polynesian
Proto-Polynesian
*tatau
“Reconstructed term associated with striking or marking the skin”
18th Century
Tahitian
tatau
“A traditional method of marking or decorating the body”
1770s
English
tattow
“Early English rendering of the Polynesian term, recorded in voyage literature”
Late 18th Century
English
tattoo
“A permanent design made by puncturing the skin and inserting pigment”
Modern English
English
tattoo
“A permanent skin design; also, the act of creating one”