Duffel bag
reinforced bag used to transport objects, often with a handle or strap to carry over one shoulder
A duffel bag, duffle bag, or kit bag is a large bag made of either natural or synthetic fabric (typically canvas or nylon).
It typically has a rectangular base and a zippered opening at the top.
Two handles enable the bag to be carried, and a (usually removable) strap lets the user support the bag on the shoulders.
It may have wheels and possibly a telescopic handle.
The term covers a wide variety of types of bag.
It may also be called a gym bag or carryall in American English, or a sports bag or holdall (or hold-all) in British English.
Etymology
The etymology is disputed.
Most sources maintain the name comes from Duffel, a town in Flanders, Belgium, where the thick duffel cloth used to make the bag originated in the 17th century.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word dates back to 1649, used to describe ‘a coarse woollen cloth having a thick nap or frieze’. The earliest reference of the word specifically referring to a duffel bag is 1768.
The public source identifies “Duffel bag” as reinforced bag used to transport objects, often with a handle or strap to carry over one shoulder. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Duffel, reinforced and used.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Duffel bag”, the useful work is to connect “reinforced bag used to transport objects, often with a handle or strap to carry over one shoulder” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1190525. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1649 and 1768.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Duffel bag” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.