'bandlet' originates from English, formed by adding the diminutive suffix '-let' to 'band', where 'band' comes from Old English/Old Norse 'band' meaning 'a binding, strip' and the suffix '-let' meant 'small'.

'bandlet' developed in Middle English by combining 'band' with the diminutive suffix (seen in forms like 'bandel'/'bandlet'), and this formation produced the modern English 'bandlet'.

Initially, the element 'band' referred to something that binds (a strip or tie); the addition of '-let' signified smallness, so the combined word's meaning has remained a 'small band or strip' (with occasional archaic sense of a small group).