baggage

American  

[bag-ij] / ˈbæg ɪdʒ /

noun

baggage plural

1. trunks, suitcases, etc., used in traveling; luggage.

2. the portable equipment of an army.

3. things that encumber one's freedom, progress, development, or adaptability; impediments.

   intellectual baggage that keeps one from thinking clearly; neurotic conflicts that arise from struggling with too much emotional baggage.

4. Archaic.

   1. a worthless woman.

   2. a prostitute or disreputable woman.

   3. Often Disparaging. a pert, playful young woman or girl.

      a pretty baggage; a saucy baggage.

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baggage British  

/ ˈbæɡɪdʒ /

noun

1. 1. suitcases, bags, etc, packed for a journey; luggage

   2. ( as modifier )

      baggage car

2. an army's portable equipment

3. informal

   1. a pert young woman

   2. an immoral woman or prostitute

4. informal a cantankerous old woman

5. informal previous knowledge and experience that a person may use or be influenced by in new circumstances

   cultural baggage

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• baggage
  plural

Etymology

Origin of baggage

1400–50; late Middle English bagage < Middle French, equivalent to Old French bag ( ues ) bundles, packs (perhaps < Old Norse; see bag) + -age -age

Explanation

Baggage is another word for the bags you put your stuff in when you travel. It’s also known as "luggage" or "suitcases." If someone says you have baggage but you’re not holding anything, they’re talking about emotional baggage. Baggage is the fancy suitcase you collect from an airport carousel or the duffel bag you get out of the trunk. It’s any travel bag you have your personal belongings in. Baggage can also refer to emotions from the past that get in the way of the present. In military terminology, baggage is any equipment that can be carried or hauled along. This is the original definition, from the Old French baggage, "military equipment," from bague, for "bag or bundle."

Example Sentences

A level up from the baggage area, he and his family kept an ear out for the gate announcement.

From Slate • Jul. 7, 2026

It will be replaced by the baggage of regret.

From BBC • Jun. 29, 2026

Dramatists are more cognizant than ever of the sociopolitical import of these contradictions and they’ve been chronicling the way this historically freighted baggage emerges in the drama of everyday life.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 29, 2026

Portnoy refers to this baggage as “my history.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 27, 2026

It was true that Smithy had lost his tools when the Mongol gunner chased our baggage camels away.

From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri

Related Words

• equipment
• gear
• luggage
• paraphernalia