station wagon

noun

"station-wagon" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“station wagon” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
13
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A body style for cars in which the roof is extended rearward to produce an enclosed area in the position and serving the function of the boot (trunk) of a sedan or saloon.

Corpus desk

Index EN-station-wagon · station wagon · English

station wagon · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 13 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "S" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for station wagon
PropertyValue
Headwordstation wagon
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters13
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “station wagon” in English

station wagonsits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

station wagon is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

station wagon doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: From train station; station wagons were originally designed for transporting people and luggage between stations and country estates. The correct English form is station wagon, spelled S-T-A-T-I-O-N- -W-A-G-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    A body style for cars in which the roof is extended rearward to produce an enclosed area in the position and serving the function of the boot (trunk) of a sedan or saloon.
  2. 2
    A vehicle (either horse-drawn or motorized) providing transport to and from a railway station for passengers and their luggage.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. 1952 November, Should You Buy A Station Wagon?, Kiplinger′s Personal Finance, page 45, Trade-in values for station wagons have shown a marked improvement since the introduction of the all-steel body. In fact, a station wagon buyer need not worry about his investment′s depreciating any more than he would have to if he bought a four-door sedan.
  2. The Negro was lying in a ditch on the left side of the road, face down, headed west, and the body more or less parallel to the road and about a car length behind the station wagon and a car length in front of Price′s car.

Etymology

From train station; station wagons were originally designed for transporting people and luggage between stations and country estates.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "station wagon"?
"station wagon" is spelled S-T-A-T-I-O-N- -W-A-G-O-N.
What does "station wagon" mean?
As a noun, "station wagon" means: A body style for cars in which the roof is extended rearward to produce an enclosed area in the position and serving the function of the boot (trunk) of a sedan or saloon.
What is the origin of the word "station wagon"?
From train station; station wagons were originally designed for transporting people and luggage between stations and country estates. 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list