1 definition by Real GURU
Originally meaning a main vein in mining, the spelling “motherload” is a mistake which is probably influenced by people thinking it means “the mother of all heavy loads.”
A “lode” was originally a stream of water, but by analogy it became a vein of metal ore. A vein of mineral ore deposited between clearly demarcated layers of rock ahdictionary dot com Miners of precious metals live to find a 'lode' of gold, which they refer to as a “mother lode,” often spelled as two words, sometimes as one (neither is in the dictionary though).
Definition paraphrased from Washington State University website
A “lode” was originally a stream of water, but by analogy it became a vein of metal ore. A vein of mineral ore deposited between clearly demarcated layers of rock ahdictionary dot com Miners of precious metals live to find a 'lode' of gold, which they refer to as a “mother lode,” often spelled as two words, sometimes as one (neither is in the dictionary though).
Definition paraphrased from Washington State University website
by Real GURU November 24, 2020