Word of the Day

: June 23, 2019

lade

verb LAYD

What It Means

1 a : to put a load or burden on or in : load

b : to put or place as a load especially for shipment : ship

c : to load heavily or oppressively

2 : dip, ladle

lade in Context

"… we might, for example, see what are arguably Mr. Boontje's two most influential designs: his Blossom chandelier for Swarovski, a sparkling spray of branches laden with rosy crystals; and the more affordable Garland light…." — Pilar Viladas, The New York Times, 9 May 2019

"There were no pictures on the walls but here and there boughs laden with heavy-petalled flowers spread widely against them." — Virginia Woolf, The Voyage Out, 1915

Did You Know?

Lade most often occurs in its past participle form laden, as shown in our examples. There is also the adjective laden, best distinguished from the verb by its placement before nouns, as in "laden ships" or "a laden heart." (The adjective is also at work in hyphenated terms like sugar-laden.) Lade has been in use for more than a millennium and formerly had a nominal counterpart: the noun lade, meaning "load" or "cargo," came to be around the same time but is now obsolete. A few short decades after it faded from active use, the noun lading took on the same meaning. Lading is still in use and appears most often in bill of lading—a term referring to a document that lists goods being shipped and specifies the terms of their transport.