'debt-laden' originates from the combination of 'debt' and 'laden', where 'debt' refers to an obligation to pay money and 'laden' means heavily loaded or burdened.

'debt' comes from the Old French word 'dette', which evolved from the Latin 'debitum', meaning 'something owed'. 'Laden' comes from the Old English 'hladen', meaning 'to load'.

Initially, 'laden' meant 'loaded with a physical burden', but over time it evolved to include metaphorical burdens like debt.