Laden

How to spell laden

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce laden

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does laden mean?

1. adjectiveHeavily loaded or weighed down with something.

Laden in a sentence

• The branches were laden with ripe apples by late summer.

• She arrived home laden with shopping bags from the market.

Where does laden come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word comes from the Old English verb hladan, meaning 'to load' or 'to draw water', a thoroughly Germanic word with relatives in Dutch laden and German laden, both still meaning 'to load'. The form 'laden' began life as the past participle of that old verb, so it literally meant 'having been loaded'. Over the centuries the original verb 'lade' faded from everyday use, surviving mainly in nautical talk about loading a ship's cargo and in the word 'bill of lading'. The participle 'laden' outlived its parent and settled into modern English chiefly as an adjective describing something heavily loaded or weighed down, whether with cargo, fruit, or worry. Because the verb it came from is now rare, writers sometimes hesitate over the single 'd' and the unstressed '-en' ending, which is the spelling trap to watch.

How the word is built

• lad- (from Old English hladan: to load)
• -en (past participle/adjective suffix)