tatouay

From a compound word in a Tupi-Guarani language (compare tatu-ai),^[1][2] of which the first element is ultimately from Old Tupi tatu (“armadillo”). Compare Portuguese tatu, French tatou. The second element (ay or ai) may mean "wound" because of a belief that its fat was used on wounds,^[1][2] or "colored",^[3] or "worthless".^[4]

tatouay (plural tatouays)

1. An armadillo (Cabassous tatouay), native to tropical South America; the broad-banded armadillo.

• “tatouay”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.