1. present participle of lade; the act of loading cargo onto a ship or vessel
Usage: nautical; archaic or formal

Examples

• The crew spent the morning ladening the merchant vessel with spices and textiles.
• Ladening a ship in the 18th century was a labor-intensive process.
• The port master oversaw the ladening of goods bound for distant colonies.
• Modern container ships have made ladening far more efficient than in earlier centuries.