Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Tattoo \Tat*too"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Tattooed}; p. pr. & vb.
   n. {Tattooing}.] [Of Polynesian origin; cf. New Zealand ta to
   tattoo, tatu puncturation (in Otaheite).]
   To color, as the flesh, by pricking in coloring matter, so as
   to form marks or figures which can not be washed out.