Tattoo is a loanword from the Samoan word "tatau", meaning "to strike". The "Oxford English Dictionary" gives the etymology of tattoo as "In 18th c. tattaow, tattow. From Polynesian (Samoan, Tahitian, Tongan, etc.) tatau. In Marquesan, tatu." Before the importation of the Polynesian word, the practice of tattooing had been described in the West as painting, scarring or staining. The etymology of the body modification term is not to be confused with the origins of the word for the military drumbeat or performance — see "military tattoo". In this case, the English word "tattoo" is derived from the Dutch word "taptoe".
Fa'afafine the Tongan "fakaleiti" (also "fakafefine"), the Cook Islands Māori "akava'ine", the Hawaiian and Tahitian "māhū" (literally "in the middle"), the Māori "whakawāhine", the Niuean "fiafifine" (also "fakafifine"), the Tokelauan "fakafāfine", the Tuvaluan "pinapinaaine", the Gilbertese "binabinaaine", and the Wallisian "fakafafine". The FTM or female-to-male equivalent in Samoa are known variously as "fa'atane", "fa'atama", and "fafatama". Ultimately, Western terms like gay, transgender, FTM, etc., do not align exactly with Samoan terms like fa'afafine, fa'atane, etc., which have meaning within the fa'asamoa traditional cultural systems of Samoa. The Samoan slang word "mala" (or "devastation" in the Samoan language) is in less frequent