An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Laden

by Friedrich Kluge

Laden, masculine, ‘shop, shutter,’ from Middle High German laden, lade, masculine, ‘board, plank, shutter, shop.’ The meaning of Middle High German lade, ‘board,’ is the originally one, hence the derivation of the word from the verb laden must be rejected in favour of its connection with Modern High German Latte; since the latter in Gothic would be represented by *laþþô, and Lade by *laþa, we might assume a root laþ, pre-Teutonic lat, meaning ‘board’; compare Latte.