unload

Etymology

It is formed from English un- + load.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The OED compares the earlier unlade.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To remove a load from something, or clear it of what it holds: before 1492, in Caxton's translation of Vitas Patrum.^[2] This revised OED date is earlier than the 1523 of Merriam-Webster Unabridged and the 1520s of Etymonline.^[5][3]

Semantic evolution

The first uses are about goods, ships and carts.^[2][3] Figurative uses came early: to shift an emotional burden onto someone from 1561, and to unburden the heart from 1575.^[2] Johnson (1755) quotes Measure for Measure for "disburden": And death unloadeth thee.^[7] Guns follow in 1601, with the removal of the charge,^[2] and then the firing of one, from 1633.^[2] In the 19th century, the verb was used of sales of stocks by 1870, and in American colloquial use of disposing of risky property by 1881.^[3] The sense "to confide, pour out one's feelings" is dated to 1885 by Etymonline and 1904 by the OED.^[3][2] Slang has taken it for robbing someone, from 1749, and for ejaculating, from 1841.^[8]

Timeline

• before 1492 – to remove a load from; to empty a vessel or vehicle.^[2]
• c. 1523 – to take out or off a load.^[2][5]
• 1539 – intransitive, of a person, to put down a load.^[2]
• 1561 – figuratively, to transfer an emotional burden to someone.^[2]
• 1575 – to unburden the heart or mind.^[2]
• 1587 – intransitive, to remove goods from a vessel or vehicle.^[2]
• 1601 – to remove the ammunition from a firearm.^[2]
• 1603 – of a river, to discharge or empty into another body of water.^[2]
• 1633 – to fire a gun.^[2]
• before 1653 – to empty the bowels, bladder or stomach.^[2]
• 1678 – intransitive, of a vessel or vehicle, to set down goods or passengers.^[2]
• 1749 – slang, to take someone's money or possessions.^[8]
• 1841 – slang, to ejaculate.^[8]
• 1870 – to sell stocks.^[3]
• 1904 – intransitive, to speak out freely; to confide.^[2] Etymonline has 1885.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To take the cargo or load from a ship, vehicle or the like: The crew unloaded the barge at dawn.^[9][5][2]
2. To take off or discharge a load: They unloaded the crates onto the quay.^[9][5][2]
3. Of a vessel or vehicle, to set down its cargo or passengers.^[2][4]
4. To remove the ammunition from a firearm.^[9][10][2]
5. To relieve someone or something of a burden.^[9][5][2]
6. To give vent to one's feelings or troubles; to confide in someone.^{[9][10][4][2]}
7. To get rid of something, especially by selling it in quantity.^[9][10][4]
8. To fire a gun, especially until it is empty.^[2]
9. Of a river or stream, to empty into another body of water.^[2]
10. (medicine) To relieve by evacuation.^[4][2]
11. (slang) To rob; to ejaculate.^[8]

Noun

1. A commodity or cargo after it has been unloaded.^[5]

Word family

• unloader

Related words

• unlade
• load

References

1. ^ a b 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 s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
8. ^ a b c d Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
9. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt