The story
- Proto-Germanic · derived from*wal-“to roll”
- Old Northern French · derived from*walet“a roll; bag; a knapsack”
- Middle English · inherited fromwalet“a bag, knapsack”
- English todaywallet
From Middle English walet (“a bag, knapsack”), of uncertain origin. Possibly from an assumed Old Northern French *walet (“a roll; bag; a knapsack”), from Proto-Germanic *wal- (“to roll”). More at walk, well, wallow.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.