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Motown

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Motown

  • /ˈmoʊtaʊn/ US

Where it comes from

Blend of motor + town; see Motor City. The poker slang comes from jacks and fives sounding similar to Jackson 5, associated with Motown popular music.

proper noun

  1. informal Detroit.

noun

  1. attributive, often, uncountable A style of popular soul music strongly associated with Motown Records. They may be a rock band, but their retro style shows a heavy Motown influence.
  2. slang, uncountable A jack and a five as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: motor city, detroit, mich., melb, manchesterdom, minnie, memphis rap, motordom, madchester, mickeysoft, microshaft, melodeon, mdot, motormania, motorboard, motor cop

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Cite this
MLA

"Motown." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/motown. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

Motown. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/motown

Chicago

"Motown." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/motown.

BibTeX
@misc{motown_2026,
  title = {Motown},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/motown},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}