baggage

1 of 2

noun (1)

bag·​gage ˈba-gij 

1

: suitcases, trunks, and personal belongings of travelers : luggage

2

: transportable equipment especially of a military force

3

: intangible things (such as feelings, circumstances, or beliefs) that get in the way

emotional baggage

baggage

2 of 2

noun (2)

1

dated : a contemptible or disreputable woman

"I can buy her off. If she took money from him—the mercenary, painted baggage!—why, then, she'll take it from me."

—Edward Bulwer-Lytton

2

dated : a young woman

Examples of baggage in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Japan Airlines is going to start rolling out its humanoid robots to help with baggage at Tokyo's Haneda Airport. —Matt Reigle Outkick, FOXNews.com, 29 Apr. 2026

In most cases, that means weapons are secured and placed on baggage cars accessible only by employees. —Claudia Lauer, Chicago Tribune, 29 Apr. 2026

But elsewhere Margaret—who produced the record with longtime collaborator Doug Saltzman—arranges the same core sounds into more interesting, textured configurations, wielding millennial touchstones without the baggage. —Linnie Greene, Pitchfork, 29 Apr. 2026

Humanoid robots are getting a new gig as baggage handlers and cargo loaders at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport—part of a Japan Airlines experiment to address a human labor shortage as airport visitor numbers have surged in recent years. —ArsTechnica, 28 Apr. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English bagage, from Middle French, from bagues belongings, baggage

Noun (2)

probably modification of Middle French bagasse, from Old Occitan bagassa

First Known Use

Noun (1)

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 21

Noun (2)

1576, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing baggage

• bag and baggage
• baggage claim
• hand baggage

Kids Definition

baggage

noun

bag·​gage

ˈbag-ij

: the traveling bags and personal belongings of a traveler : luggage