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Packer comes from Middle English pakkere ‘a packer’, from pakken ‘to pack’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰask- ‘bundle’.

1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰask-¹‘bundle’uncertain
2. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*baskis²‘bundle, load’uncertain
3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*pakkô³‘bundle’uncertain
4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*pakkō³uncertain
5. Old Dutchc. 500–1150*pakko³uncertain
6. Old Englishc. 450–1150*pæcca³uncertain
7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pak⁴‘a bundle or package’
8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pakken⁵‘to pack’
9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pakkere⁶as pakker‘a packer’
10. Englishearliest quotation 2009packer⁶

1. ¹ Wiktionary, Proto-Celtic *baskis
2. ² Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *pakkô
3. ³ Wiktionary, Middle English pak
4. ⁴ Wiktionary, Middle English pakken
5. ⁵ Wiktionary, Middle English pakkere
6. ⁶ Wiktionary, English packer
7. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2009, Harlan Carvey: “Many times, the malware authors will use packers and…”.