The journey of 'waft' begins not with a clear morpheme division but with a semantic shift from naval escort to gentle motion. It originated in the 16th century from 'wafter', a term for an armed vessel escorting merchant ships, borrowed from Dutch 'wachter' (a guard, from 'wachten' to watch). The verb 'waft' was formed by dropping the '-er' agent suffix, taking on the sense "to convoy by water." From this specific nautical meaning of guiding or carrying safely across water, the term broadened abstractly to describe anything carried lightly and gently, especially by the movement of air or currents. This evolution transformed a word of martial protection into one evoking the delicate transmission of scents, sounds, or breezes.

The word 'waft' is a simplex form. It is a back-formation from the obsolete 'wafter', a convoy ship, which itself derived from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German 'wachter' (a guard). The core element relates to watching or guarding, which evolved to signify the action of conveying or carrying.