Word.ws English Dictionary

dubplate

Syllables: dub·plate/ˈdʌbpleɪt/US/ˈdʌbˌpleɪt/

dubplate noun: an acetate or vinyl record pressed in very limited numbers, especially one issued to disc jockeys in advance of an official release; specifically (and originally), one containing a piece of dub music (a style of reggae music, often instrumental, involving the mixing of different audio tracks).

dubplate: an acetate or vinyl record pressed in very limited numbers, especially one issued to disc jockeys...
Image: Somethingelsedan, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

dubplate (plural dubplates)

  1. An acetate or vinyl record pressed in very limited numbers, especially one issued to disc jockeys in advance of an official release; specifically (and originally), one containing a piece of dub music (a style of reggae music, often instrumental, involving the mixing of different audio tracks).
    • You heard that new Danny Weed dubplate?
    • Their dub-plate (unreleased tracks on private pressings) battles are usually limited to JA [Jamaica] and the UK, but they have begun to invade the States with this unique form of entertainment.1986 April, Roger Steffens, “World Beat”, in Bob Guccione, Jr., editor, Spin, volume 2, number 1, New York, N.Y.: Camouflage Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 19, column 1

Examples of dubplate in a sentence

  • Various Artists, Soundclash Dubplate Style (Taurus Jamaica)[1989 June, “Groove Me: 20 Recommended Current Albums and Reissues”, in Bob Guccione, Jr., editor, Spin, volume 5, number 3, New York...
  • The dubplate is a Jamaican idea: seventies sound systems pressed up their own tracks in order to outdo their rivals.1998, Simon Reynolds, “Roots ’n’ Future: Jungle Takes Over London, 1993–94”, in Generation Ecstasy: Into the World of Techno and Rave...
  • In some cases, these improvised lyrics for a dubplate would be cut as records and sold or added to albums[…].2022, Mark V. Campbell, “Dubbing the Remix and Its Uses”, in Afrosonic Life, New York, N.Y.; London: Bloomsbury Academic, Bloomsbury...

Forms of dubplate

pluraldubplates
alternative formdub-plate
alternative formdub plate

Origin of dubplate

From dub (“style of reggae music involving mixing of different audio tracks”) + plate (“music record, usually vinyl”).

Questions about dubplate

What does dubplate mean?
Dubplate means an acetate or vinyl record pressed in very limited numbers, especially one issued to disc jockeys in advance of an official release; specifically (and originally), one containing a piece of dub music (a style of reggae music, often instrumental, involving the mixing of different audio tracks).
How do you use dubplate in a sentence?
Various Artists, Soundclash Dubplate Style (Taurus Jamaica)
What part of speech is dubplate?
Dubplate is a noun.
How do you pronounce dubplate?
Dubplate is pronounced /ˈdʌbpleɪt/ (UK).
What is the plural of dubplate?
The plural of dubplate is dubplates.

Words near dubplate in the dictionary

  1. Dubossary
  2. Dubova
  3. Dubowitz syndrome
  4. Dubowski
  5. Dubowskis
  6. dubplate
  7. dubplates
  8. Dubrava
  9. Dubravica
  10. Dubravko
  11. Dubray

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: dubplate (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)-Vealhurl-dubplate.wav.

Cite this entry: “dubplate.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/dubplate. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.