Sackload

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A substantial amount of goods or materials stored inside one or more sacks
2. A significant volume of items transported in bags or pouches that collectively form a load
3. A great amount of items or merchandise contained within one or multiple sacks

Etymology: "Sackload" is a plain compound: "sack" joined to "load," with the two parts keeping their ordinary senses. A "sack" is a large bag of coarse material, and a "load" is whatever is carried or placed on something, so the combined word names the quantity a sack holds, or the amount carried in several of them. The word's history is transparent, and its interest lies in how the parts fit together. "Sack" itself has a long and roundabout past in English, and "load" comes from the Old English "lad," meaning a carrying or a way, which is why the word has long been used for both the act of carrying and the thing carried. Putting the two together gives a unit of measurement that a farmer, merchant, or carter would have understood without further explanation.

Synonyms: load, cargo, shipment, bundle, package

Antonyms: emptiness, lightness, deprivation, scarcity, lack