load

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A heavy thing that is carried.

   I struggled up the hill with the heavy load on my back.

2. 2
   noun

   An amount of something carried or moved at one time.

   The truck overturned while carrying a full load of oil.

3. 3
   verb

   To put a large amount of something into or onto a vehicle or container.

   The workers loaded the bags onto the trucks.

4. 4
   verb

   To put bullets into a gun or film into a camera.

   The soldiers loaded their rifles carefully.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

In Old English, load meant a way, journey, course, conveyance, or the act of loading. During Middle English it developed the familiar sense "that which is carried." Its ancient root is related to that of the metal name lead.

The sense of “burden” first arose in the 13th century as a secondary meaning of Middle English lode, loade, which had the main significance of “way, course, journey”, from Old English lād (“course, journey; way, street, waterway; leading, carrying; maintenance, support”) (ultimately from Proto-Germanic *laidō (“leading, way”), Proto-Indo-European *leyt- (“to go, go forth, die”). Cognate with Middle Low German leide (“entourage, escort”), German Leite (“line, course, load”), Swedish led (“way, trail, line”), Icelandic leið (“way, course, route”). As such, load is a doublet of lode, which has pr…

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External links

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