The word 'towel' entered English in the 13th century from the Old French 'toaille', which itself derived from the Frankish (a West Germanic language) thwahlija. This Frankish term is related to the Old High German 'dwahila', meaning 'towel', and the Gothic 'thwahan', meaning 'to wash'. The core concept originates from a Proto-Germanic root þwahaną ('to wash'), which is also the ancestor of the modern German word for towel, 'Handtuch'. Thus, the journey of 'towel' is from a Germanic term for a washing cloth, through French, and into English, retaining its fundamental association with drying and cleansing.

The word 'towel' is a simplex word borrowed from Old French. Its ultimate origin is traced to the Germanic root thwahlō, meaning 'cloth for washing'.