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faggot

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

6 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "faggot", 6-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "faggot" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "faggot" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

faggot is aEnglishnoun. It means: A bundle of sticks or brushwood intended to be used for fuel tied together for carrying. (Some sources specify that a faggot is tied with two bands or withes, whereas a bavin is tied with just one.) Pronounced /ˈfæɡ.ət/. Often confused with Fargo and forgot.

Key facts for faggot
PropertyValue
Headwordfaggot
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈfæɡ.ət/
Letters6
Frequency rank#15,406
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of faggot in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for faggot is 6 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈfæɡ.ət/. Corpus data places it at rank #15,406 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 13 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 7 documented wrong-spelling variants for faggot, with forms such as "afggot", "faggott", and "faggto". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "Fargo", "forgot", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English fagot, from Old French fagot (“bundle of sticks”), of uncertain origin. Unlikely from Old Occitan fagot or Italian fagotto, as these appear later than the Old French term. Compare also Italian fangotto and Spanish fajo (“bundle, wad”). P… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is faggot, spelled F-A-G-G-O-T, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    A bundle of sticks or brushwood intended to be used for fuel tied together for carrying. (Some sources specify that a faggot is tied with two bands or withes, whereas a bavin is tied with just one.)
  2. 2
    Burdensome baggage.
  3. 3
    A bundle of pieces of iron or steel cut off into suitable lengths for welding.
  4. 4
    A burning or smouldering piece of firewood.
  5. 5
    A meatball made with offcuts and offal, especially pork. (See Wikipedia.)
  6. 6
    A gay man, especially an effeminate one.
  7. 7
    A non-heterosexual man.
  8. 8
    A man considered effeminate.
  9. 9
    An annoying or inconsiderate person.
  10. 10
    A shrewish woman.
  11. 11
    A soldier numbered on the muster roll, but not really existing.
  12. 12
    A faggot voter.
  13. 13
    A lazy, weak, work-shy person.

Etymology

From Middle English fagot, from Old French fagot (“bundle of sticks”), of uncertain origin. Unlikely from Old Occitan fagot or Italian fagotto, as these appear later than the Old French term. Compare also Italian fangotto and Spanish fajo (“bundle, wad”). Perhaps from a diminutive of Vulgar Latin *facus, from Ancient Greek φάκελος (phákelos, “bundle of wood”). The senses relating to persons, though possibly originating as an extension of the sense "bundle of sticks" (compare baggage), may have been reinforced by fag, from fagging and/or by faygele, from Yiddish פֿייגעלע (feygele, “homosexual”, literally “little bird”), related to English fowl.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: afggot,faggott,faggto,fagogt,fagot,ffaggot,fgagot

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for faggot

Misspelling Variants of "faggot"

afggot6faggott7faggto6fagogt6fagot5ffaggot7fgagot6
Misspelling Variants of "faggot"

Frequency rank: #15,406 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "faggot"?
"faggot" is spelled F-A-G-G-O-T. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈfæɡ.ət/.
What does "faggot" mean?
As a noun, "faggot" means: A bundle of sticks or brushwood intended to be used for fuel tied together for carrying. (Some sources specify that a faggot is tied with two bands or withes, whereas a bavin is tied with just one.)
What words are commonly confused with "faggot"?
"faggot" is commonly confused with "Fargo", "forgot". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "faggot"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "faggot" is /ˈfæɡ.ət/. 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 "faggot"?
From Middle English fagot, from Old French fagot (“bundle of sticks”), of uncertain origin. Unlikely from Old Occitan fagot or Italian fagotto, as these appear later than the Old French term. Compare also Italian fangotto and Spanish fajo (“bundle... 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter F in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.