emcee

English

Etymology

Pronunciation spelling of MC (“master of ceremonies”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: ĕm'sē', IPA^(key): /ˌɛmˈsiː/
• Rhymes: -iː

Noun

emcee (plural emcees)

1. Alternative form of MC in its senses as
   1. Master of ceremonies.
      • 1943, "Franklin W. Dixon" (Charles Leslie McFarlane), Hardy Boys 22: The Flickering Torch Mystery:

        "I'm the emcee for tonight," he proclaimed. "I'll announce your program."

      • 2025 February 24, Sophie Clark, “Woman Forcibly Dragged Out Of Idaho Town Hall: What We Know So Far”, in Newsweek‎:

        The emcee of the event, Ed Bejarana, called Borrenpohl a "little girl," at the town hall, saying: "This little girl does not want to leave. She spoke up and now does not want to suffer the consequences."

   2. (music) A rapper.
      • 2021, Jehnie I. Burns, Mixtape Nostalgia: Culture, Memory, and Representation (page 138)

        […] mutating into all-star line-ups of emcees spitting hot bars over familiar beats, then to a single crew spitting bars over familiar beats, then eventually to a single crew (or artist) spitting bars over unfamiliar beats.

Derived terms

• femcee

Translations

master of ceremonies

German: Moderator (de) m Spanish: maestro de ceremonias m

Verb

emcee (third-person singular simple present emcees, present participle emceeing, simple past and past participle emceed)

1. (ambitransitive) To act as the master of ceremonies (for).
   • 1965 August, Mississippi Phil Ochs, “The Newport Fuzz Festival”, in The Realist‎, number 61, retrieved 13 November 2022, page 11:

     Alan Lomax was emceeing the blues workshop and was turned off by the Paul Butterfield Jug Band and implied as much on stage.

2. (intransitive, music) To rap as part of a hip-hop performance.

Synonyms

• (act as the master of ceremonies): compere (UK)
• (rap): See rap

Translations

act as the master of ceremonies

Chinese: Mandarin: 主持 (zh) (zhǔchí) Finnish: juontaa (fi) French: maître de cérémonie (fr) m, maîtresse de cérémonie (fr) f, MC (fr) m or f (Anglicism) German: moderieren (de), ansagen (de), vorstellen (de), einführen (de) Polish: emce m Spanish: hacer de maestro de ceremonias, ser maestro de ceremonias, maestrear en la ceremonia, maestrear la ceremonia

See also

• hip-hop
• rap

Anagrams

• Meece