wagon
wag·on/ˈwæɡən/noun, verb
wagon is spelled W-A-G-O-N: 5 letters and 2 syllables (wag·on). It appears 7.9 times per million words in written English, the 8,266th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, wagon means “A heavier four-wheeled (normally horse-drawn) vehicle designed to carry goods (or sometimes people)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of wagon is wagons.
How many letters and syllables are in wagon?
| Letters | 5: W-A-G-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: wag·on |
| In writing | 7.9 times per million words; the 8,266th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; 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 wagon?
Wagon appears 7.9 times per million words in written English, the 8,266th 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 wagon?
- US /ˈwæɡən/
- US [ˈwæɡən] ~ [ˈwæɡn̩]
- British /ˈwaɡən/
Wagon has 2 syllables, split wag·on in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-wagon.ogg, En-au-wagon.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with wagon
Also written: station wagon.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with wagon?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as wagon (/æɡən/).
Spelled with the same letters in another order: gowan, wonga.
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 wagon
- wagons plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- wagoning participle, present
- wagonning participle, present, rare
- wagoned participle, past
- wagonned participle, past, rare
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does wagon mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A heavier four-wheeled (normally horse-drawn) vehicle designed to carry goods (or sometimes people).
- 2
Abbreviation of toy wagon; A child's riding toy, with the same structure as a wagon (sense 1), pulled or steered by a long handle attached to the front.
- 3
USA shopping cart.
- 4
A vehicle (wagon) designed to transport goods or people on railway.
- 5
Ellipsis of dinner wagon (“set of light shelves mounted on castors so that it can be pushed around a dining room and used for serving”).
- 6
slangEllipsis of paddy wagon (“police van for transporting prisoners”).
- 7
AustraliaCanadaUSinformalEllipsis of station wagon (“type of automobile”); (occasionally, loosely) any car, van, or light truck.
- 8
IrelanddatedderogatoryslangA woman of loose morals, a promiscuous woman, a slapper.
verb
- 1
USTo load into a wagon in preparation for transportation; to transport by means of a wagon.
- 2
USTo travel in a wagon.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Wagon in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | charrette , chariot |
| German | Wagen , Bollerwagen |
| Portuguese | carro, carroça, vagão |
| Spanish | carro, coche, carreta, carromato, carroza, galera |
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 wagon come from?
Borrowed from Middle Dutch wagen, from Old Dutch *wagan, from Proto-West Germanic *wagn, from Proto-Germanic *wagnaz (“wagon”), from Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ- (“to transport”). Generally displaced native cognate wain, from Old English wæġn, of which it is a doublet. Related also to way, weigh. Sense 8 (“woman of loose morals; obnoxious woman”) is probably a derogatory and jocular reference to a woman being “ridden”, that is, mounted for the purpose of sexual intercourse. The verb is derived from the noun.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).