bag

/ˈbæɡ/

//ˈbæɡ// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"bag" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“bag” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #1,683) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#1,683
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - A soft container made out of cloth, paper, thin plastic, etc. and open at the top, used to hold food, commodities, and other goods.

Corpus desk

Index EN-bag · bag · English

bag · rank #1,683 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,683
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH arrived

Nearest frequency peer: arrived (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “bag”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “bag” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 2, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

bag vs be
33% similar
bag vs by
33% similar
bag vs BC
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for bag
PropertyValue
Headwordbag
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈbæɡ/
Letters3
Frequency rank#1,683
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “bag” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). bag lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for bag is neighbouring look-alikes ("be", "by", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /ˈbæɡ/. Frequency #1,683 among 4,121 “B” headwords. 21 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for bag, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "be", "by", "BC", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Old Norse baggibor.? Old French baguebor.? Middle English bagge English bag Inherited from Middle English bagge, from Old Norse baggi (“bag, pack, satchel, bundle”) (whence also Old French bague (“bundle, package, sack”)); related to Old Nors… The correct English form is bag, spelled B-A-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    A soft container made out of cloth, paper, thin plastic, etc. and open at the top, used to hold food, commodities, and other goods.
  2. 2
    A container made of leather, plastic, or other material, usually with a handle or handles, in which you carry personal items, or clothes or other things that you need for travelling. Includes shopping bags, schoolbags, suitcases, briefcases, handbags, backpacks, etc.
  3. 3
    One's preference.
  4. 4
    An ugly woman.
  5. 5
    The cloth-covered pillow used for first, second, and third base.
  6. 6
    First, second, or third base.
  7. 7
    A breathalyzer, so named because it formerly had a plastic bag over the end to measure a set amount of breath.
  8. 8
    A collection of objects, disregarding order, but (unlike a set) in which elements may be repeated.
  9. 9
    A sac in animal bodies, containing some fluid or other substance.
  10. 10
    A sac in animal bodies, containing some fluid or other substance.
  11. 11
    A sac in animal bodies, containing some fluid or other substance.
  12. 12
    A pouch tied behind a man's head to hold the back-hair of a wig; a bag wig.
  13. 13
    The quantity of game bagged in a hunt.
  14. 14
    A unit of measure of cement equal to 94 pounds.
  15. 15
    A dark circle under the eye, caused by lack of sleep, drug addiction etc.
  16. 16
    A large number or amount.
  17. 17
    In certain phrases: money.
  18. 18
    A fellow gay man.
  19. 19
    A small envelope that contains drugs, especially narcotics.
  20. 20
    The scrotum.
  21. 21
    £1000, a grand.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how bag appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Acid House is not my bag: I prefer the more traditional styles of music.
  2. And from then on, his bag was silence. Silence and killing.

Etymology

Etymology tree Old Norse baggibor.? Old French baguebor.? Middle English bagge English bag Inherited from Middle English bagge, from Old Norse baggi (“bag, pack, satchel, bundle”) (whence also Old French bague (“bundle, package, sack”)); related to Old Norse bǫggr (“harm, shame; load, burden”), of uncertain origin.

This word in other languages

bolsa(Español)sac(Français)Beutel(Deutsch)sacola(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "bag"?
"bag" is spelled B-A-G. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbæɡ/.
What does "bag" mean?
As a noun, "bag" means: A soft container made out of cloth, paper, thin plastic, etc. and open at the top, used to hold food, commodities, and other goods.
What words are commonly confused with "bag"?
"bag" is commonly confused with "be", "by", "BC". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "bag"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bag" is /ˈbæɡ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "bag"?
Etymology tree Old Norse baggibor.? Old French baguebor.? Middle English bagge English bag Inherited from Middle English bagge, from Old Norse baggi (“bag, pack, satchel, bundle”) (whence also Old French bague (“bundle, package, sack”)); related t... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "bag", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

bet#1,684USA#1,708cat#1,713Joe#1,727
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list