baggage
[bag-ij]
- trunks, suitcases, etc., used in traveling; luggage.
- the portable equipment of an army.
- 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.
- Archaic.
- a worthless woman.
- a prostitute or disreputable woman.
- Often Disparaging.a pert, playful young woman or girl: a pretty baggage; a saucy baggage.
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Origin of baggage
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for baggage
Contemporary Examples
Other officials told reporters that searchers also spotted a life vest and baggage in the water.
There are all sorts of baggage around being a man, and being a woman.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt on Why He’s Exploring the Word ‘Feminism’ and Online MisogynyMarlow Stern
September 22, 2014
Much of the baggage that Charles carries is universally known.
Imagining Prince Charles as King Makes All of Britain Wish They Could Leave Like ScotlandClive Irving
September 17, 2014
Think about it: The longer the runway, the more time the pilot has to get the airplane and all its baggage off the ground.
So obviously when a character becomes iconic, you have to deal with the baggage that comes with it.
Historical Examples
He also procured a couple of mules to transport his baggage.
A Sketch of the Life of Brig. Gen. Francis MarionWilliam Dobein James
Baggage and rifle on shoulder, he pursued a course south by east.
The Rock of ChickamaugaJoseph A. Altsheler
The rebels were compelled to make a stand to protect their baggage.
Cleveland Past and PresentMaurice Joblin
I left the baggage in charge of four gigantic mastiffs which we had brought with us.
FreelandTheodor Hertzka
Accommodation for the baggage was provided in a similarly practical manner.
FreelandTheodor Hertzka
baggage
- suitcases, bags, etc, packed for a journey; luggage
- mainly US and Canadian(as modifier)baggage car
- an army's portable equipment
- informal, old-fashioned
- a pert young woman
- an immoral woman or prostitute
- Irish informal a cantankerous old woman
- informal previous knowledge and experience that a person may use or be influenced by in new circumstancescultural baggage
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Word Origin
C15: from Old French bagage, from bague a bundle, perhaps of Scandinavian origin; compare Old Norse baggi bag
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for baggage
n.
mid-15c., "portable equipment of an army; plunder, loot," from Old French bagage "baggage, (military) equipment" (14c.), from bague "pack, bundle, sack," ultimately from the same Scandinavian source that yielded bag (n.). Baggage-smasher (1851) was American English slang for "railway porter."
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper