burden

See also: Burden and Bürden

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English burden, birden, burthen, birthen, byrthen, from Old English byrden, byrþen, from Proto-West Germanic *burþini, from *burþī, from Proto-Germanic *burþį̄, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to carry, bear”).

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Noun

burden (plural burdens)

  1. A heavy load.
    • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XXV, page 42:
      I know that this was Life,—the track
      ⁠Whereon with equal feet we fared;
      ⁠And then, as now, the day prepared
      The daily burden for the back.
    • 1898, J. Meade Falkner, Moonfleet, London, Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934:
      There were four or five men in the vault already, and I could hear more coming down the passage, and guessed from their heavy footsteps that they were carrying burdens.
  2. A responsibility, onus.
  3. A cause of worry; that which is grievous, wearisome, or oppressive.
  4. The capacity of a vessel, or the weight of cargo that she will carry.
    a ship of a hundred tons burden
    • 1945 May and June, Charles E. Lee, “The Penrhyn Railway and its Locomotives—1”, in Railway Magazine, page 142, text published 1848:
      " […] The quay is upwards of 1,000 feet in length, and capable of accommodating more than 100 sail of traders; and there are generally a considerable number of vessels of from 40 to 300 tons burden, from various parts of the world, waiting to receive their cargoes."
  5. (mining) The tops or heads of stream-work which lie over the stream of tin.
  6. (metalworking) The proportion of ore and flux to fuel, in the charge of a blast furnace.[1]
  7. A fixed quantity of certain commodities.
    A burden of gad steel is 120 pounds.
  8. (obsolete, rare) A birth.
    […] that bore thee at a burden two fair sons.
  9. (medicine) The total amount of toxins, parasites, cancer cells, plaque or similar present in an organism.
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Verb

burden (third-person singular simple present burdens, present participle burdening, simple past and past participle burdened)

  1. (transitive) To encumber with a literal or figurative burden.
    to burden a nation with taxes
  2. (transitive) To impose, as a load or burden; to lay or place as a burden (something heavy or objectionable).
Translations

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Inherited from Middle English burdoun (“accompaniment”), from Old French bordon (“drone”), from Medieval Latin burdō. Doublet of bourdon.

Noun

burden (plural burdens)

  1. (music) A phrase or theme that recurs at the end of each verse in a folk song or ballad.
  2. The drone of a bagpipe.
    • 1740, Sébastien de Brossard, James Grassineau, A Musical Dictionary:
      BURDEN in some musical instruments, the Drone or Bass , and the pipe or string that plays it
  3. Theme, core idea.
    the burden of the argument

References
  1. Rossiter W[orthington] Raymond (1881) “Burden”, in A Glossary of Mining and Metallurgical Terms. […], Easton, Pa.: [American] Institute [of Mining Engineers], […], →OCLC.

Anagrams

Middle English

Adjective

burden

  1. Alternative form of borden

Etymology 2

From burde +‎ -en (plural ending).

Noun

burden

  1. plural of burde

West Frisian

Noun

burden

  1. plural of burd
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