Baggage

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈbæɡɪd͡ʒ/

Definitions

1. Items transported during travel, encompassing luggage
2. Personal belongings or suitcases that travelers carry with them ; the mental or emotional burdens a person carries, especially from past experiences
3. The collection of bags, cases, and other goods moved while traveling ; difficulties or issues from one's past that affect their present emotional state

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "baggage" is that for centuries it meant something close to the opposite of luggage: a woman of low character. The old sense, "nasty woman," grew from the idea of something awkward to be carried, the same logic that gave "faggot" its own unflattering figurative uses. Luggage itself came first, and the bodily sense of the word stayed in use for travellers' belongings. The word traces back to Old French "bagage" and "baguage," formed from "bague," a bundle or sack. That French word probably came from a Germanic source, and it shares an ancestry with Old Norse "baggi," meaning pack or bundle. English also has the word "bag," and "baggage" can be analysed as "bag" plus the suffix "-age," which forms nouns for collections or accumulations. The modern figurative sense, an emotional load carried over from earlier experiences, is a later extension of the physical meaning. The idea is still the same: something heavy that you keep hauling around with you.

Synonyms: luggage, baggage claim, gear, belongings

Antonyms: freedom, release, liberation