Added 8 October 2026
load
/loʊd/ noun
In Latin: onus Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about load at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
-
A burden; a weight to be carried.
I struggled up the hill with the heavy load in my rucksack.
- A worry or concern to be endured, especially in the phrase a load off one's mind.
-
A certain number of articles or quantity of material that can be transported or processed at one time.
The truck overturned while carrying a full load of oil.
verb
-
To put a load on or in (a means of conveyance or a place of storage).
The dock workers refused to load the ship.
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To place in or on a conveyance or a place of storage.
The longshoremen loaded the cargo quickly.
-
To put a load on something.
The truck was supposed to leave at dawn, but in fact we spent all morning loading.
noun
Origin
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 preserved the older meaning.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)