Unload

How to spell unload

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce unload

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does unload mean?

1. verbTo remove a load or cargo from a vehicle, container, or carrier.

Unload in a sentence

• The movers will unload the truck as soon as it arrives.

• Please help me unload the dishwasher before dinner.

Where does unload come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a native English formation that pairs the prefix un-, which reverses an action or undoes a state, with the noun and verb 'load'. The word 'load' descends from Old English 'lad', which originally meant a way, a course, or a journey, and was closely related to 'lead' in the sense of guiding or carrying along. Over the medieval period the meaning of 'load' drifted from the act of carrying toward the burden being carried, giving the modern sense of cargo or weight. The compound 'unload' is recorded from around the 1500s, meaning simply to take the burden off again, and it later picked up figurative uses such as selling off goods or pouring out one's feelings. Because both halves of the word are plain English elements, the spelling is straightforward: just 'un' joined to 'load' with no doubled letters or silent traps.

How the word is built

• un- (reverse the action of)
• load (a burden or cargo)