What does faggot mean?
A faggot is, in its oldest and most neutral sense, a bundle of sticks or twigs bound together, traditionally gathered for use as fuel. From this image of binding comes the word's other established meaning: in British English, especially the Midlands and Black Country, a faggot is a savoury meatball made from chopped pork offal, suet, and herbs, often served with peas or gravy. The word derives ultimately from the Latin fascis, meaning bundle, the same root behind fasces and "fascinate." In modern English, however, "faggot" is overwhelmingly encountered as a vicious homophobic slur against gay men, and this sense dominates current perception; using it in any context risks causing serious offence. The literal and culinary senses persist mainly in historical texts and regional British cuisine. Anyone reading older literature will meet the word in its harmless original meaning, but awareness of its charged modern connotations is essential.
A bundle of sticks, twigs, or branches bound together, especially for burning as fuel.
"She stacked each faggot neatly beside the cottage door before nightfall."
Common in historical and literary writing; rare in everyday modern speech except as the slur sense.
(British English) A meatball made from chopped pork offal, suet, and herbs, typically braised or baked.
"Faggots with mushy peas remain a beloved comfort food in the Midlands."
Chiefly regional to the Midlands, Wales, and northern England; often sold as "Traditional Faggots."
Regular plural; used both for bundles of sticks and for the British meatball dish.
"They collected armfuls of dry faggots for the bonfire."
The same Latin root that gives us "fascism" — fasces, a bound bundle of rods — also gave English the humble word for a bundle of firewood.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of faggot
The word entered Middle English in the late thirteenth century from Old French "fagot," meaning a bundle of sticks, a term of uncertain ultimate origin though often linked to Greek-based Romance vocabulary or to Latin fascis, "bundle." The Latin root fasc- is shared with fasces — the bound rods carried by Roman lictors — and with words such as "fascinate" and "facsimile." The culinary sense arose in Britain by the seventeenth century, while the offensive slang sense developed in twentieth-century American English.
How faggot is actually used
In contemporary usage, extreme care is essential: as a slur the word is one of the most offensive terms in English and should never be used casually. The literal senses — a bundle of firewood and the British foodstuff — survive mainly in older literature, historical contexts, and regional British cooking. The spelling "fagot" is a common variant, particularly for the metallurgical sense.
Easily confused with faggot
A baguette is a long thin loaf of French bread, whereas a faggot is a bundle of sticks (or, in British cuisine, an offal meatball); the words merely share a similar shape-derived meaning.
"Fagot" is simply a variant spelling of "faggot" with the same meanings.