backpacking

B3A1C3K5P3A1C3K5I1N1G2

noun

Hiking and camping overnight in backcountry with one's gear carried in a backpack.

Similar
packing
OriginEnglish backpack ← Middle English pak ← Middle Dutch pakbor.? →
CommonScrabble 28
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verb
  1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of backpack
nounbackpacking (uncountable)
  1. uncountableHiking and camping overnight in backcountry with one's gear carried in a backpack.

    The Australian teens, both from Melbourne, were enjoying a backpacking trip when they became ill after a night out in Vang Vieng. The picturesque rural town in northern Laos has long been a popular backpacking spot.

    2024 November 21, Helen Regan, Isaac Yee and Eve Brennan, “Australian teens among six tourists dead as countries warn of suspected methanol poisonings in Laos”, in CNN, archived from the original on 05 Dec 2024
  2. uncountableLow-cost, generally urban, travel with minimal luggage and frugal accommodations.

Synonyms & antonyms

nouncarrying something in a pack on the back

Similar
packing
Broader
carry
Also see
packing

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰeg-der.?
  2. Proto-Germanic*baką
  3. Proto-West Germanic*bak
  4. Old Englishbæc
  5. Middle Englishbak
  6. Englishback
  7. Proto-Germanic*pakkô
  8. Proto-West Germanic*pakkō
  9. Old English*pæcca?
  10. Proto-West Germanic*pakkō
  11. Old Dutch*pakko
  12. Middle Dutchpakbor.?
  13. Middle Englishpak
  14. Englishpack
  15. Englishbackpack
  16. Englishbackpacking

From backpack + -ing.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Iranian Persian کولهگردی
  • کولهگردی (kule-gardi)hiking and camping overnight in backcountry with one's gear carried in a backpack
Japanese リュックサック旅行, バックパッキング
  • リュックサック旅行 (ryukkusakku ryokō)low-cost, generally urban, travel with minimal luggage and frugal accommodations
  • バックパッキング (bakkupakkingu)low-cost, generally urban, travel with minimal luggage and frugal accommodations
Korean 배낭여행
  • 배낭여행 (baenang'yeohaeng)low-cost, generally urban, travel with minimal luggage and frugal accommodations
Persian کولهگردی
  • کولهگردی (kule-gardi)low-cost, generally urban, travel with minimal luggage and frugal accommodations
Russian бэкпэ́кинг
  • бэкпэ́кинг (bɛkpɛ́king)low-cost, generally urban, travel with minimal luggage and frugal accommodations
Spanish mochileo
  • mochileohiking and camping overnight in backcountry with one's gear carried in a backpack
Cite this entry
APA

backpacking. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/backpacking

MLA

“backpacking.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/backpacking. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “backpacking,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/backpacking.

Source: backpacking on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.