reggae

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 song "Do the Reggay".

• IPA^(key): /ˈɹɛɡeɪ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛɡeɪ

reggae (uncountable)

1. (Rastafari, music) A music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s and is heavily associated with Rastafarianism, featuring a heavy bass line and percussive rhythm guitar on the offbeat, often with close vocal harmonies.
   • 1978, 05:35 from the start, in Wolfgang Büld, director, Reggae In a Babylon (film (documentary)), spoken by Dennis Bovell (as himself, a member of the band Matumbi):

     I mean, the very name reggae. I mean, it wasn’t called reggae in the first place. It came from blue beat, just ska, you know? Ska and blue beat, the era, and then reggae. Because it was a dance, originally. And the DJs thought, “That’s a nice name,” and the kept saying “reggae music, reggae music” on the air all the time. “Reggae music, reggae music, the DJs on the radio. So everyone kept on saying “Reggae music”. They classed it as …(other Matumbi band members join in) Reggae.

• raggee, agrégé, regage

Borrowed from English reggae.

• IPA^(key): /ˈreɡeː/, [ˈre̞ɡe̞ː]
• Rhymes: -eɡeː
• Syllabification^(key): reg‧gae
• Hyphenation^(key): reg‧gae

reggae

1. reggae

• “reggae”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 3 July 2023

From Jamaican Creole rege (“rags; a quarrel”), see rag.

reggae m (plural reggaes)

1. (music) reggae

• “reggae”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Unadapted borrowing from English reggae.

reggae (Jawi spelling ريݢي, plural reggae-reggae)

1. alternative spelling of rege

• “reggae” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

Unadapted borrowing from English reggae.

• IPA^(key): /ˈrɛ.ɡɛ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛɡɛ
• Syllabification: re‧ggae
• Homophone: Regę

reggae n (indeclinable, related adjective reggae'owy or reggaeowy)

1. reggae (music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s and is heavily associated with Rastafarianism, featuring a heavy bass line and percussive rhythm guitar on the offbeat, often with close vocal harmonies)

• reggae in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• reggae in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• reggae in PWN's encyclopedia

Unadapted borrowing from English reggae.

• Homophone: regue (Brazil)

reggae m (uncountable)

1. (music) reggae (a music genre from Jamaica)

• regueiro

Unadapted borrowing from French reggae, from Jamaican Creole rege (“rags; a quarrel”).

reggae n (uncountable)

1. reggae

Unadapted borrowing from English reggae.

• IPA^(key): /ˈreɡe/ [ˈre.ɣ̞e]
• Rhymes: -eɡe

reggae m (plural reggaes)

1. reggae

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

• “reggae”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024

reggae c

1. (music) reggae

• reggae in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• reggae in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)