backbeat

B3A1C3K5B3E1A1T1

noun

The sharp accent on the second and fourth beats of rock music in 4/4 time.

OriginEnglish beat ← Middle English bak ← Old English bæc →
UncommonScrabble 18
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Meanings

nounbackbeat (plural backbeats)

plural backbeats · alternative back beat

  1. entertainmentThe sharp accent on the second and fourth beats of rock music in 4/4 time.

    Just let me hear some of that rock and roll music / Any old way you choose it / It's got a back beat, you can't lose it, / Any old time you use it

    1957, “Rock and Roll Music”, performed by Chuck Berry

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰeg-der.?
  2. Proto-Germanic*baką
  3. Proto-West Germanic*bak
  4. Old Englishbæc
  5. Middle Englishbak
  6. Englishback
  7. Englishbeat
  8. Englishbackbeat

From back + beat.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

backbeat. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/backbeat

MLA

“backbeat.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/backbeat. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “backbeat,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/backbeat.

Source: backbeat on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.