Bags

How to spell bags

4 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce bags

What does bags mean?

1. nounMore than one flexible container used to carry or store things.
2. verbThird-person form: puts items into a bag, or claims something.
3. nounInformally in British usage, a large amount or plenty of something.

Bags in a sentence

• noun

  The shopping bags split open on the walk home.

• verb

  He bags the groceries quickly at the checkout.

• noun

  There is bags of time before the train leaves.

• noun

  She packed two bags for the weekend trip.

• verb

  The assistant bags each order before handing it over.

• noun

  The new flat has bags of room for the children.

Where does bags come from?

Language of origin: Old Norse

The base word 'bag' is generally traced to the Old Norse 'baggi', meaning a bundle, pack, or sack, which entered English in the 1200s during the long period of Scandinavian influence on the language. From the start it named a soft, flexible container for carrying goods, and the meaning has stayed remarkably stable ever since. The form 'bags' is simply the regular plural, made by adding -s, and the same -s ending turns the noun into a verb in the third person, as in someone who 'bags' the shopping. Because the word ends in a voiced consonant, the -s is pronounced as a 'z' sound, but it is still spelled with a plain s. In casual British speech 'bags' also grew a sense of 'plenty' or 'a large amount', as in having bags of time, a playful extension from the idea of a sack stuffed full.

How the word is built

• bag (container)
• -s (plural / third-person verb ending)