'bagwoman' originates from English, formed as a compound of 'bag' + 'woman', modeled on 'bagman' (a collector or carrier of money), where 'bag' referred to a sack or pouch used to carry collected money and 'woman' denotes the female gender.

'bagwoman' developed by analogy to 'bagman', an American English term from the late 19th to early 20th century referring to someone who carried money (often illicit funds). The pattern 'bag-' + agent (man/woman) produced the female form 'bagwoman'.

Initially, components simply meant 'a woman who carries a bag', but by analogy with 'bagman' the compound came to mean specifically 'a woman who carries or collects money (often illicit or unofficial)'; that specialized sense has persisted.