# reggae

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈɹɛɡeɪ/ · frequency rank #15,689

## Definitions
1. 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.

## Etymology
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”.

## Easily confused with
- **regime** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/reggae-vs-regime)
- **Reggie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/reggae-vs-reggie)
- **regal** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/regal-vs-reggae)
- **Regan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/regan-vs-reggae)
- **Reagan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/reagan-vs-reggae)

## Common misspellings (6)
`erggae`, `regae`, `regage`, `reggea`, `rgegae`, `rreggae`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/reggae