the verb 'tote' entered american english in the late 17th century, with its origins traced to angolan languages such as kimbundu or kikongo, where words like 'tota' (to pick up) or 'tuta' (to carry) existed. it was likely brought to the american south via the transatlantic slave trade and absorbed into southern american english, particularly through gullah. initially a regionalism, the term gained wider usage in the 19th century, eventually standardizing to its current meaning of carrying a load. the noun form, referring to a bag for carrying items, is a 20th-century back-formation from the verb, completing the word's semantic journey from an action to an object facilitating that action.

this word is a simplex. it is a loanword of obscure origin, likely from a west african language via gullah or other english creoles. its functional role is as a complete lexical unit.