What it means
باگاژ (bagaj) is the luggage compartment of a car, what English speakers call the trunk (American English) or boot (British English). The word is borrowed directly from French “bagage,” and Iranians adopted it during the twentieth century as car ownership spread. An equivalent native phrase is صندوق عقب (sanduq-e aqab, literally “rear box”), but باگاژ is equally common in speech and is the word taxi drivers and mechanics typically use. The same word also covers luggage in the airport sense, where you might hear باگاژم گم شد (my luggage got lost).
How to use it
- چمدونها رو بذار تو باگاژ. (chamedun-ha ro bezar tu bagaj.) “Put the suitcases in the trunk.”
- باگاژ ماشین پره. (bagaj-e mashin pore.) “The car trunk is full.”
- میتونی باگاژ رو وا کنی؟ (mituni bagaj ro va koni?) “Can you open the trunk?”
- زاپاس رو از باگاژ دربیار. (zapas ro az bagaj darbiar.) “Take the spare tire out of the trunk.”
Cultural note
Iranian taxis, especially the classic Paykan-era sedans and their successors, were often loaded with remarkable amounts of cargo in the باگاژ. Long-distance shared taxis between cities, known as سواری (savari), routinely stack passengers’ bags in the boot and sometimes on the roof. The word باگاژ is also heard at airports: customs officers and airline staff use it freely alongside the English-influenced term لاگج (lagej), though باگاژ remains the more established form.