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I've never heard a specific answer that completely satisfied me, as unlike ONE SHEET (30x40) or THREE SHEET or ONE PANEL or TWO PANEL etc as in France or the Italian variations already mentioned, or the German paper sizes, et al, the term does not appear - that I have ever heard that relates it to a paper size. They were called daybills when they were 15x40 inches, (half a one sheet) when they were 10x30 (during WW2, and 4 could be printed up on a one sheet to save on paper) when they were 13x30 (three on a one sheet).... and they have continued to shrink (the 80s saw the sizes really start to vary, from 13/12.5/12 x 26/27/28 inches (and several otehr variations)and so that now most "daybills" are mini one sheets - same aspect ratio as a one sheet (they can use the same key art obviously), but varying in size. Lots of younger Australian collector call these "daybills" as well, even if older collectors know them as "minis" or "mini one sheets".

An old printer told me the terms LONG DAYBILL and MINI DAYBILL only came into use when the 13x30 was first introduced and when the 10x30 was introduced to differentiate the format.

As to the name itself, I have met several old industry hands in both printing and distribution who also and always called them PLAYBILLS.... and I have always thought the most logical reason is that like PLAYBILLS, they refer to the "bill of the day" or what's on the day's bill, and the term may well go back to pre-cinema (we have other non-cinema long daybills, for example from around the turn of the century). The earliest cinema posters we have handled have been 2 Edison US posters - and that was a 30x40 horizontal format (gorgeous stone litho piece) and a 20x30 inch typography only.

I'd love to hear other comments on the history of the term "daybill".

On the terminology front, in Australia, ONE SHEETS were always called ONE SHEETERS, ditto for three and six sheets, etc.
Phil