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Etymology and origin of the English word reload

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1620 Richard Whitbourne, Discourse and Discovery of New-found-land
Ultimate origin
Old English lād
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English load
English reload
From the same root
English download ← load
English overload ← load
English payload ← load
English workload ← load

Pronunciation

  • /ɹiːˈləʊd/, /ˈɹiːləʊd/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English re- + load.[2][3][4][5] The OED compares the earlier verb relade.[2] The verb load is from the noun, which goes back to Old English lād (“way, course, a carrying”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To put goods or cargo back on board a vessel, vehicle or animal: 1620, in Richard Whitbourne's Discourse and Discovery of New-found-land.[2] Etymonline dates the word to 1778,[3] and the Shorter Oxford to the late 18th century.[5]

Semantic evolution

From loading a ship again, the verb passed to loading a gun again, in 1727 and intransitively in 1761;[2] Etymonline finds it of firearms by 1789.[3] It was later used of cameras and film (1927),[2] and of computers, programs and web pages from 1971.[2][6] The noun, an act of reloading, is recorded from 1852, and a thing used to reload, such as a film or cartridge, from 1928;[2][5] Merriam-Webster also has a cartridge loaded by hand.[4] In American underworld slang of the mid-20th century, to reload was to swindle the same victim twice, especially by selling more worthless stock,[7][4] and in British criminal slang to win a dupe's confidence with small wins before taking everything (1977).[7]

Timeline

  • 1620 – to load goods back on a vessel.[2]
  • 1622 – to load a vessel again.[2]
  • 1727 – to load a firearm again.[2] Etymonline dates this sense to 1789.[3]
  • 1852 – noun, an act of reloading.[2]
  • 1928 – noun, a film, cartridge or the like used to reload.[2]
  • 1949 – in US underworld slang, to swindle the same person again.[7]
  • 1971 – in computing, to load a program again.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To load a firearm again with ammunition: The hunter reloaded his rifle.[6][4][2]
  2. To load goods or cargo again, or to load a vehicle or vessel again.[6][4][2]
  3. (computing) To load a program, file or web page again; to refresh.[6][2]
  4. To load a cartridge by hand.[4]

Noun

  1. An act of reloading.[2][4][5]
  2. Something used to reload, such as a film or a hand-loaded cartridge.[2][4]
  3. (slang) Worthless securities or property sold to someone who has already been sold some.[4][7]

Word family

  • reloadability
  • reloadable

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  7. ^ a b c d Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
Cite this entry

“Reload.” Etymologically, 1 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/reload. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

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