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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

bagel.

A toroidal bread roll that is boiled before it is baked.

5 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈbeɪ̯.ɡəl/Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation[ˈbeɪ̯.ɡɫ̩]Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation/ˈbɛ.ɡəl/US, regional/ˈbæɡ.əl/Canada, Inland-Northern-American
  1. A toroidal bread roll that is boiled before it is baked.

  2. A score of 6-0 in a set (after the shape of a bagel, which looks like a zero).

    slang
  3. An overly materialistic and selfish young Jewish man.

    South-Africa · ethnic · slang · slur
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰewgʰ- Proto-Indo-European *bʰowgʰ-o-sder. Proto-Germanic *baugaz Proto-West Germanic *baug Old High German boug Middle High German boucder. Yiddish בייגל (beygl)bor. English bagel Borrowed from Yiddish בייגל (beygl), ultimately from a diminutive of Middle High German bouc, boug- (“ring, bracelet”), from Old High German boug (“ring”), from Proto-West Germanic *baug, from Proto-Germanic *baugaz (“ring”). Compare obsolete English bee, Old English bēag, Old Frisian bāg, Old Saxon bōg, Middle Low German bōg, Old Norse baugr. Also compare Austrian German Beugel and dialectal Beigel. See also beag.

verb/ˈbeɪ̯.ɡəl/Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation[ˈbeɪ̯.ɡɫ̩]Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation/ˈbɛ.ɡəl/US, regional/ˈbæɡ.əl/Canada, Inland-Northern-American
  1. To achieve a score of 6–0 (as the winner) in a tennis set.

  2. To hold an opponent to a score of zero.

Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰewgʰ- Proto-Indo-European *bʰowgʰ-o-sder. Proto-Germanic *baugaz Proto-West Germanic *baug Old High German boug Middle High German boucder. Yiddish בייגל (beygl)bor. English bagel Borrowed from Yiddish בייגל (beygl), ultimately from a diminutive of Middle High German bouc, boug- (“ring, bracelet”), from Old High German boug (“ring”), from Proto-West Germanic *baug, from Proto-Germanic *baugaz (“ring”). Compare obsolete English bee, Old English bēag, Old Frisian bāg, Old Saxon bōg, Middle Low German bōg, Old Norse baugr. Also compare Austrian German Beugel and dialectal Beigel. See also beag.

noun/ˈbeɪ̯.ɡəl/Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation[ˈbeɪ̯.ɡɫ̩]Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation/ˈbɛ.ɡəl/US, regional/ˈbæɡ.əl/Canada, Inland-Northern-American
  1. Alternative form of bagle.

    alt-of · alternative
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Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.