bagel
/ˈbeɪ̯.ɡəl/noun, verb
bagel is spelled B-A-G-E-L: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,965th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, bagel means “A toroidal bread roll that is boiled before it is baked” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of bagel is bagels.
How many letters and syllables are in bagel?
| Letters | 5: B-A-G-E-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.5 times per million words; the 22,965th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is bagel?
Bagel appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,965th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce bagel?
- US /ˈbeɪ̯.ɡəl/
- US [ˈbeɪ̯.ɡɫ̩]
- US /ˈbɛ.ɡəl/
Bagel has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-bagel.ogg, En-ca-bagel.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with bagel?
2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as bagel from its last stressed vowel (/eɪɡəl/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: gable, gabel, gleba.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of bagel
- bagels plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- beigel UK
- bageling US, participle, present
- bagelling UK, participle, present
- bageled US, participle, past
- bagelled UK, participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does bagel mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A toroidal bread roll that is boiled before it is baked.
- 2
slangA score of 6-0 in a set (after the shape of a bagel, which looks like a zero).
- 3
slangAn overly materialistic and selfish young Jewish man.
- 4
Alternative form of bagle.
verb
- 1
To achieve a score of 6–0 (as the winner) in a tennis set.
- 2
To hold an opponent to a score of zero.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Bagel in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense toroidal bread roll that is boiled and then baked:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does bagel come from?
Borrowed from Yiddish בייגל (beygl), ultimately from a diminutive of Middle High German bouc, boug- (“ring, bracelet”), from Old High German boug (“ring”), from Proto-West Germanic *baug, from Proto-Germanic *baugaz (“ring”). Compare obsolete English bee, Old English bēag, Old Frisian bāg, Old Saxon bōg, Middle Low German bōg, Old Norse baugr.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).