wallet
/ˈwɒlɪt
/noun
1A pocket-sized flat folding case for holding money and plastic cards.I know there are the big fold out credit card wallets but I'm running out of pockets and I can't quite bring myself to carry a handbag....
- Not wanting to put our lives at risk, we handed over the money in our wallets.
- I spent two hours sliding pieces of paper into plastic wallets and putting them in files.
Synonyms
notecase, purse, pouch, pochette;
North American billfold, pocketbook
1.1 archaic A bag for holding provisions, especially when travelling, typically used by pedlars and pilgrims.
Origin
Late Middle English (denoting a bag for provisions): probably via Anglo-Norman French from a Germanic word related to well2. The current sense (originally US) dates from the mid 19th century.
A wallet was originally a bag, pouch, or knapsack. Medieval pilgrims would carry them, and the earliest recorded use of the word is by Geoffrey Chaucer, in the prologue to the Canterbury Tales. The modern meaning did not turn up until the 1840s, in the USA. The word is from Old French, and is related to well, in the water sense.