Ladening

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The process of placing a load onto something, especially a ship or vehicle, causing it to become heavier
2. An action involving the addition of weight or cargo, often to prepare for transportation or storage
3. The act of filling or burdening an object with goods or materials, making it heavier than before

Etymology: "Ladening" is the present participle and gerund of "laden", so its history is the history of "laden" itself, which in turn traces back to the verb "lade". That older verb, meaning to load a vessel or a beast with a burden, is the root from which the participle grew. Over time "laden" shifted from the physical act of loading goods onto a ship or cart toward a broader sense of being weighed down, whether by cargo, worry, or sorrow. Use "ladening" when you mean the ongoing act of putting cargo aboard. A ship being ladened at dawn is a ship with its hold filling steadily, and the word keeps the sense of a heavy, deliberate process that the plainer "loading" does not carry.

Synonyms: loading, burdening