1769 and Captain James Cook
To Tatau or Not To Tatau
According to Merriam-Webster, 1777 is when the word “tattoo” entered into English usage, with the meaning of inked images in skin, and was put into the dictionary. However, we can reasonably trace a likely derivation of the word which precedes that given date. We know from the records of the 1769 expedition of Captiain James Cook, famed British Naval explorer, to the South Pacific that there was a Tahitian word tatau, which means “to mark.” However, the actual word “tattoo” existed before Cook and his voyages – about 150 years before.

Captain Cook and the Location of Tahiti

In an interesting side note, Cook was later killed on the beach in Hawaii some ten years later (on another voyage) at Kealakekua Bay during a quick altercation with locals over a small boat that had been taken.