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Added 10 October 2026

reggae

/ˈɹɛɡeɪ/ noun

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about reggae at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Popular music originating in the West Indies; repetitive bass riffs and regular chords played on the off beat by a guitar.

Origin

From Jamaican Creole rege (“rags; a quarrel”), see rag; originally used in the 1960s to describe a Jamaican dance. Compare ragtime. Broader musical sense popularized by the 1968 Maytals song “Do the Reggay”.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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