Meaning

noun a rectangular piece of absorbent cloth (or paper) for drying or wiping

verb wipe with a towel

originFrom Middle English towayle, towel, towail, towaille, from Old French toaille (“towel”) (modern French touaille), Medieval Latin toallia, from Frankish *þwahilu (“cloth”), from Proto-Germanic *þwahaną (“to wash”). Cognate with Old High German dwahila (“towel”) (modern dialectal German Zwehle), Dutch dwaal (“towel”), dweil (“mop”), Low German Dweel (“towel”), Old English þwǣle (“band; ribbon;…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0