'armload' originates from English, formed by combining the words 'arm' and 'load', where 'arm' meant 'arm' and 'load' meant 'burden' or 'quantity to be carried'.

'arm' comes from Old English 'earm' meaning 'arm', and 'load' comes from Old English words for 'burden' or 'way' that developed into the sense 'burden' in Modern English; the compound 'armload' arose in Modern English by combining these elements.

Initially and historically it has meant 'the amount carried in the arms'; this core meaning has largely remained unchanged into modern usage as both a literal and occasional figurative expression.