English
load
Load comes from Middle English lode ‘way, course’, which took on the sense ‘burden’, from Old English lād ‘journey’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leyt- ‘to go’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leyt-1‘to go, go forth’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*loyt-éh₂-2reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*laidō1‘leading, way’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*laidu3reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150lād1‘course, journey; carrying’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lode1‘way, course; burden’
- Englishearliest quotation 1667load1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English load
- 2 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *laidō
- 3 Wiktionary, Old English lad
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1667, John Milton, (please specify the page number): “Far heavier load thyself expect to feel From my…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leyt-Wiktionary, English load‘to go, go forth’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*loyt-éh₂-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *laidōreconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*laidōWiktionary, English load‘leading, way’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*laiduWiktionary, Old English ladreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150lādWiktionary, English load‘course, journey; carrying’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lodeWiktionary, English load‘way, course; burden’
- Englishearliest quotation 1667loadWiktionary, English load. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1667, John Milton, (please specify the page number): “Far heavier load thyself expect to feel From my…”
The story
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’). As such, load is a doublet of lode, which has preserved the older meaning. Most likely, the semantic extension of the Middle English substantive arose by conflation with the (etymologically unrelated) verb lade; however, Middle English lode occurs only as a substantive; the transitive verb load (‘to charge with a load’) is recorded only in the 16th century (frequently in Shakespeare). For the meaning development from PIE, compare Latin carrus (whence carry) akin to currō.
Linked words
through Old English lād ‘course, journey’
Today it means
noun A burden; a weight to be carried.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “load”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *laidō, Old English lad. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *leyt- / load