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
