burden

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See also: Burden and Bürden

English[edit]

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Etymology 1[edit]

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[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

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[edit]
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Verb[edit]

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[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

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

Noun[edit]

burden (plural burdens)

  2. (music) A phrase or theme that recurs at the end of each verse in a folk song or ballad.
  3. 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
  4. Theme, core idea.
    the burden of the argument

References[edit]

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

Anagrams[edit]

Middle English[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Adjective[edit]

burden

  1. Alternative form of borden

Etymology 2[edit]

From burde +‎ -en (plural ending).

Noun[edit]

burden

  1. plural of burde

West Frisian[edit]

Noun[edit]

burden

  1. plural of burd
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