'badger' (and thus plural 'badgers') originates from Late Middle English, attested as 'bageard' or 'baggeard', of uncertain origin; some suggestions link it to dialectal or Old French words related to peddlers or to imitative origins.

'bageard' (Late Middle English) changed into Early Modern English 'badger' and then the modern English form 'badger' (plural 'badgers'). The verb sense ('to badger') developed from the noun sense.

Initially used for the animal (and in some dialectal senses for a kind of peddler), it evolved so that the verb sense 'to pester or harass' (and its forms like 'badgers') became common in modern usage.