Reload

How to spell reload

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce reload

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does reload mean?

1. verbTo load something again, such as charging a weapon afresh, restocking a container, or refreshing a screen or program.
2. nounA fresh supply or a repeated loading, especially a cartridge made by refilling a spent casing.

Reload in a sentence

• verb

  The soldier paused to reload before advancing again.

• noun

  He kept a spare reload tucked into his belt at the range.

• verb

  If the page freezes, simply reload it in your browser.

• noun

  The printer prompted me for a paper reload before the big job.

Where does reload come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a transparent English compound, formed by attaching the prefix re-, meaning 'again' or 'back', to the verb 'load'. The base word 'load' descends from the Old English verb 'hladan', meaning 'to heap up' or 'to lade a ship or cart', and it belongs to the same Germanic family as the modern words 'lade' and 'lading'. The re- prefix itself entered English through Latin, where it carried the sense of repetition or return, and over centuries it became a freely productive English building block. 'Reload' is a comparatively modern coinage, first appearing in the era of firearms to describe charging a gun a second time after firing. As technology advanced, the word stretched naturally to cover restocking, refilling, and eventually refreshing a webpage or restarting software, while the spelling stayed reassuringly literal: re plus load, with no doubling and no silent letters.

How the word is built

• re- (again, back)
• load (a burden or charge placed onto something)