disc jockey
UK/ˌdɪsk ˈdʒɒki//ˌdɪsk ˈdʒɑki/
disc jockey noun: a person who plays, and sometimes mixes, recorded music at nightclubs, dances, parties, or some other social event; or as a backup musician for spoken word, or hip hop performers.
Noun
disc jockey (plural disc jockeys)
- A person who plays, and sometimes mixes, recorded music at nightclubs, dances, parties, or some other social event; or as a backup musician for spoken word, or hip hop performers.
- The disc jockey played brilliant music at the party.
- A person who conducts a radio program of recorded music combined with talk, news, commercials, weather, etc.
- The show he produced first aired on WJMR, a white-owned New Orleans radio station. The show's disc jockey used the name “Poppa Stoppa” and played what would then be called “race music,” the term given to any music produced by African American artists.2014, Dominic Massa, New Orleans Radio, Arcadia Publishing, →ISBN, page 107
disc jockey meaning in Arabic and Thai
disc jockey in Arabic
- person who plays recorded music in nightclubs etc.
- فارس الإسطوانات, دسْك جوكي, دِي جِي dī jey, دي جيه dī jih
disc jockey in Thai
- person who plays recorded music in nightclubs etc.
- นักจัดรายการ nák-jàt-raai-gaan, ดีเจ dii-jee
Synonyms of disc jockey
Forms of disc jockey
| plural | disc jockeys |
|---|---|
| alternative form | discjockey |
| alternative form | disk jockey |
| alternative form | diskjockey |
| alternative form | DJ |
Origin of disc jockey
Disc refers to the flat, circular shape of the traditional medium for recorded music. Jockey refers to a diminutive of jock, the Northern English or Scots colloquial equivalent of the first name John, which is also used generically for “boy, or fellow” (compare Jack, Dick), at least since 1529. So, disc jockey / DJ etymologically refers to a young person playing (discs holding) music. Coined by journalist Walter Winchell in 1935 to describe Martin Block. Appeared in print in Variety in 1941. Previously also called record man.
Words formed from disc jockey
Questions about disc jockey
- What does disc jockey mean?
- Disc jockey means a person who plays, and sometimes mixes, recorded music at nightclubs, dances, parties, or some other social event; or as a backup musician for spoken word, or hip hop performers.
- What is disc jockey in Arabic?
- Disc jockey in Arabic is فارس الإسطوانات, دسْك جوكي, دِي جِي (dī jey). See Disc jockey meaning in Arabic.
- What part of speech is disc jockey?
- Disc jockey is a noun.
- How do you pronounce disc jockey?
- Disc jockey is pronounced /ˌdɪsk ˈdʒɒki/ (UK).
- What is the plural of disc jockey?
- The plural of disc jockey is disc jockeys.
Words near disc jockey in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: disc jockey (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-disc jockey.wav.
Cite this entry: “disc jockey.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/disc_jockey. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.