láss

Læss is a Danish noun that historically referred to a load or cargo, particularly the amount of goods carried by a vehicle, animal, or vessel. The term appears in older texts, archival materials, and documents describing freight, transport obligations, or the quantities of goods to be moved.

In contemporary Danish, læss is largely obsolete in everyday language. The standard word for load or cargo in most contexts is last, with læss surviving mainly in historical writing, regional dialects, or nautical and agricultural descriptions of past carriage practices. Because of its archaic feel, læss is sometimes encountered in literary or genealogical sources aiming to reflect period terminology.

Etymologically, læss belongs to the Germanic family of terms for burden and cargo. Its spelling with the ligature æ reflects older orthography typical of 19th-century Danish and earlier, and related forms or cognates can be found in neighboring Scandinavian languages in historical texts.

In summary, læss is a historical Danish term for a load or cargo that has largely fallen out of everyday use, surviving mainly in archival, literary, or dialect contexts. It offers linguistic insight into how past Danish commerce and transport were described, and it sits alongside the modern term last as part of the evolving vocabulary for freight and burden. See also last, cargo, and load.