Dictionary.com

baggage

[ bag-ij ]
/ ˈbæg ɪdʒ /
Save This Word!

noun
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.
  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.
QUIZ
CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?
There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?
Question 1 of 7
Which sentence is correct?

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
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use baggage in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for baggage

baggage
/ (ˈbæɡɪdʒ) /

noun
  1. suitcases, bags, etc, packed for a journey; luggage
  2. mainly US and Canadian (as modifier)baggage car
an army's portable equipment
informal, old-fashioned
  1. a pert young woman
  2. 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

Word Origin for baggage

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
FEEDBACK