In
geology, a
lode is a deposit of
ore that fills or is embedded in a
fissure (or crack) in a
rock formation or a
vein of ore that is deposited or embedded between layers of rock. The current meaning (ore vein) dates from the 17th century, being an
expansion of an earlier sense of a ‘channel, watercourse’ in
late Middle English, which in turn is from the 11th-century meaning of
lode as a ‘course, way’.