Meaning

noun weight to be borne or conveyed

noun a quantity that can be processed or transported at one time

noun goods carried by a large vehicle

originThe 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…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0