mbalax

M3B3A1L1A1X8

noun

A genre of popular dance music chiefly performed in Senegal and The Gambia

OriginWolof [Term?] →
Scrabble 17
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Meanings

nounmbalax (uncountable)
  1. uncountableentertainmentA genre of popular dance music chiefly performed in Senegal and The Gambia

    Another local style — the Senegalese funk called mbalax — arrived with the singer Fallou Dieng, a protégé of the Senegalese superstar Youssou N’Dour.

    2008 January 15, Jon Pareles, “To See (and Hear) the World in Five Hours: Unique Sounds Ripe for Import”, in New York Times

Origin

  1. Wolof[Term?]
  2. Englishmbalax

Borrowed from Wolof [Term?], meaning "rhythm".

More words from Wolof

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

mbalax. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mbalax

MLA

“mbalax.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mbalax. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mbalax,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mbalax.

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