Early 19th century. Probably partly from Afrikaans pasella (from either Xhosa -bhasela or Zulu -basela, or partly from each: see below), partly from Xhosa -bhasela (verb stem) to give a present, and partly from Zulu -basela (verb stem) to beg, make demands for (literally ‘to kindle (a fire) for’ from -basa kindle + -ela, suffix forming the applied form).