carga

See also: cargá

English

Etymology

From Spanish carga (“a load, 4 Spanish bushels”), from cargar (“to load”), from Late Latin carricāre, from Latin carrus (“cart”). Doublet of charge and cargo.

Noun

carga (plural cargas)

1. (historical) A traditional Spanish unit of dry measure, equivalent to about 222 liters.

Coordinate terms

• (unit of dry volume): cuartillo (¹⁄₁₉₂ carga), medio (¹⁄₉₆ carga), celemin (¹⁄₄₈ carga), cuartilla (¹⁄₁₆ carga), cuarto (¹⁄₈ carga), fanega (¹⁄₄ carga), saco (¹⁄₂ carga), cahiz (3 cargas)

Chavacano

Etymology

Inherited from Spanish cargar (“to carry”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /caɾˈɡa/ [caɾ.ˈɡa]
• Hyphenation: car‧ga

Verb

cargá

1. to carry

Conjugation

Verb conjugation for carga

	Zamboanga City	Cavite
tense	carga
past	ya carga
present	ta carga
future	ay carga; carga; el carga; (rural/archaic) ey carga	di carga
gerund	cargando	?
past participle	cargao; cargado
infinitive	carga
manner	cargada
reciprocal	cargahan
reciprocal past	ya man cargahan; ya'n cargahan
reciprocal present	ta man cargahan; ta'n cargahan
reciprocal future	ay man cargahan; man cargahan; el man cargahan; (rural/archaic) ey man cargahan
reciprocal infinitive	man cargahan

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish carga.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɑr.ɣaː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: car‧ga

Noun

carga f (plural carga's, no diminutive)

1. (nautical) cargo

   Synonyms: bevrachting, lading, last, vracht

Galician

Etymology 1

Noun

carga f (plural cargas)

1. charge
2. burden, load

Etymology 2

Verb

carga

1. inflection of cargar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese carga, carrega, a back-formation from carregar (“to carry”) (Modern Portuguese carregar).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈkaʁ.ɡɐ/ [ˈkaɦ.ɡɐ]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈkaʁ.ɡɐ/ [ˈkaɦ.ɡɐ]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /ˈkaɾ.ɡɐ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ˈkaʁ.ɡɐ/
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /ˈkaɻ.ɡɐ/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈkaɾ.ɡɐ/ [ˈkaɾ.ɣɐ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈkaɾ.ɡɐ/ [ˈkaɾ.ɣɐ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈkaɾ.ɡɐ/

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: car‧ga

Noun

carga f (plural cargas)

1. charge (load or burden)

   Synonym: fardo

2. cargo
3. charge (of a weapon or battery)

   A bateria tem carga suficiente.

   The battery has enough charge.

4. electric charge

Derived terms

• carga-elétrica, carga-horária, carga-útil
• monta-cargas

Further reading

• “carga”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “carga”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkaɾɡa/ [ˈkaɾ.ɣ̞a]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɾɡa
• Syllabification: car‧ga

Etymology 1

Deverbal from cargar.

Noun

carga f (plural cargas)

1. load
2. burden
3. cargo
4. charge
5. (historical) carga (a traditional unit of dry measure equivalent to about 222 L)
6. (American football) blitz

Coordinate terms

• (unit of dry volume): cuartillo (¹⁄₁₉₂ carga), medio (¹⁄₉₆ carga), celemín (¹⁄₄₈ carga), cuartilla (¹⁄₁₆ carga), cuarto (¹⁄₈ carga), fanega (¹⁄₄ carga), saco (¹⁄₂ carga), cahíz (3 cargas)

Derived terms

• a carga cerrada
• a la carga
• animal de carga
• bahía de carga (“cargo bay”) (for trucks)
• bestia de carga
• bodega de carga (“cargo bay”) (for planes and spacecraft)
• buey de carga
• carga a fondo
• carga de aposento
• carga de justicia
• carga de la prueba
• carga de profundidad
• carga eléctrica
• carguero
• indio de carga
• lanzacargas
• llevar la carga
• montacargas
• muelle de carga (“loading dock”)
• navío de carga
• sentarse de carga
• soltar la carga
• tabique de carga
• tren de carga

Related terms

• cargable
• cargador
• cargar
• cargo
• descargar
• encargar
• recargar
• sobrecarga
• sobrecargar

Noun

carga f (plural cargas)

1. female equivalent of cargo

Etymology 2

Verb

carga

1. inflection of cargar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “carga”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025