# faggot

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈfæɡ.ət/ · frequency rank #15,406

## Definitions
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. Burdensome baggage.
3. A bundle of pieces of iron or steel cut off into suitable lengths for welding.
4. A burning or smouldering piece of firewood.
5. A meatball made with offcuts and offal, especially pork. (See Wikipedia.)
6. A gay man, especially an effeminate one.
7. A non-heterosexual man.
8. A man considered effeminate.
9. An annoying or inconsiderate person.
10. A shrewish woman.
11. A soldier numbered on the muster roll, but not really existing.
12. A faggot voter.
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.

## Easily confused with
- **Fargo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/faggot-vs-fargo)
- **forgot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/faggot-vs-forgot)

## Common misspellings (7)
`afggot`, `faggott`, `faggto`, `fagogt`, `fagot`, `ffaggot`, `fgagot`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/faggot