The story
Sense 1 is from ass + load and is old; sense 3 is from ass + load and is newer; sense 2 came from sense 1 but is often synchronically reanalyzed as coming from sense 3.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Today it means: An amount carried by an ass (donkey). Full definition →
Sense 1 is from ass + load and is old; sense 3 is from ass + load and is newer; sense 2 came from sense 1 but is often synchronically reanalyzed as coming from sense 3.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.