baggage
/ˈbæɡɪd͡ʒ/
"baggage" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“baggage” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #10,496 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #10,496
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Portable cases, large bags, and similar equipment for manually carrying, pushing, or pulling personal items while traveling
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | baggage |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈbæɡɪd͡ʒ/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #10,496 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “baggage” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for baggage is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈbæɡɪd͡ʒ/. Corpus data places it at rank #10,496 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for baggage, with forms such as "abggage", "bagage", and "bagagge". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "barrage", "bandage", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English bagage, from Old French bagage, baguage, from bague (“bundle, sack”), of Germanic/North Germanic origin, probably from the same ultimate source as Old Norse baggi (“pack, bundle”). Compare also bag. By surface analysis, bag + -age. The o… The correct English form is baggage, spelled B-A-G-G-A-G-E.
Definition
- 1Portable cases, large bags, and similar equipment for manually carrying, pushing, or pulling personal items while traveling
- 2Factors, especially psychological ones, which interfere with a person's ability to function effectively.
- 3A woman. A female, especially one who is saucy, impudent.
- 4An army's portable equipment; its baggage train.
Etymology
From Middle English bagage, from Old French bagage, baguage, from bague (“bundle, sack”), of Germanic/North Germanic origin, probably from the same ultimate source as Old Norse baggi (“pack, bundle”). Compare also bag. By surface analysis, bag + -age. The old meaning of "nasty woman" likely derives from the sense of "something awkward to be carried" (compare faggot).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: abggage,bagage,bagagge,baggaeg,baggagge,bagggae,bbaggage,bgagage
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of baggage - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “baggage”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-A-G-G-A-G-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈbæɡɪd͡ʒ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “barrage” - see the side-by-side comparison. baggage vs barrage
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.