load

英文词源

load

load: [OE] Load originally meant ‘way, course’ and ‘conveyance, carriage’. It goes back to prehistoric Germanic *laithō, which also lies behind English lead ‘conduct’. Not until the 13th century did it begin to move over to its current sense ‘burden’, under the direct influence of lade [OE] (a verb of Germanic origin which now survives mainly in its past participial adjective laden and the derived noun ladle [OE]). The word’s original sense ‘way’ is preserved in lodestar [14], etymologically a ‘guiding star’, and lodestone [16], likewise a ‘guiding stone’, named from its use as a compass.
=> laden, lead

load (v.)

late 15c., "to place in or on a vehicle," from load (n.). Transitive sense of "to put a load in or on" is from c. 1500; of firearms from 1620s. Of a vehicle, "to fill with passengers," from 1832. Related: Loaded; loaden (obs.); loading.

load (n.)

"that which is laid upon a person or beast, burden," c. 1200, from Old English lad "way, course, carrying," from Proto-Germanic *laitho (cognates: Old High German leita, German leite, Old Norse leið "way, course"); related to Old English lædan "to guide," from PIE *leit- "to go forth" (see lead (v.)). Sense shifted 13c. to supplant words based on lade, to which it is not etymologically connected; original association with "guide" is preserved in lodestone. Meaning "amount customarily loaded at one time" is from c. 1300.

Figurative sense of "burden weighing on the mind, heart, or soul" is first attested 1590s. Meaning "amount of work" is from 1946. Colloquial loads "lots, heaps" is attested from c. 1600. Phrase take a load off (one's) feet "sit down, relax" is from 1914, American English. Get a load of "take a look at" is American English colloquial, attested from 1929.