Wagonloads

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A considerable number of items that a wagon can carry
2. A large quantity of goods or materials that a single wagon is capable of transporting
3. The volume or weight of cargo that can fit within one wagon

Etymology: "Wagonloads" is simply the plural of "wagonload," so its story is the story of the two words joined together. "Wagon" came into English from Middle Dutch "wagen," itself descended from a Germanic root that also gave modern German "Wagen" and ultimately reaches back to a Proto-Indo-European root for a wheeled vehicle, linking it to the same ancestry as "wheel" and "chariot." "Load" is the older and more central partner in the compound. It is an English word of Old English origin, and its basic sense was the burden a person or animal carried. "Wagonload" is formed from "wagon" and "load" and means the quantity a wagon can hold or carry, so each part keeps its own meaning and the compound simply names the amount a wagon's cargo amounts to. The plural adds an "s" to the end, giving "wagonloads" for several such amounts.

Synonyms: loads, cargoes, freights, deliveries, shipments