burden

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See also: Bürden

English

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Etymology 1

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From Middle English burden, birden, burthen, birthen, byrthen, from Old English byrden, byrþen (“burden, load, weight; charge, duty”), from Proto-Germanic *burþinjō (“burden”), from Proto-Germanic *burþį̄ (“burden”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to carry, bear”). Cognate with Scots burthine (“burden”), Middle Low German borden (“burden”), Middle High German bürden (“burden, load”). Related to Old English byrd (“burden”), German Bürde (“burden, weight”), Danish byrde (“burden”), Swedish börde (“burden”), Norwegian bør (“burden”), Norwegian Bokmål byrde, Norwegian Bokmål bære (“to carry”), Icelandic byrði (“burden”).

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Noun

burden (plural burdens)

  1. A heavy load.
    • 1898, J. Meade Falkner, Moonfleet Chapter 4
      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.
    • (Can we date this quote by Jonathan Swift and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      Deaf, giddy, helpless, left alone, / To all my friends a burden grown.
  4. The capacity of a vessel, or the weight of cargo that she will carry.
    a ship of a hundred tons burden
  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.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Raymond to this entry?)
  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.

Derived terms

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
    • Bible, 2 Corinthians viii. 13
      I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened.
    • (Can we date this quote by Shakespeare and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      My burdened heart would break.
  2. (transitive) To impose, as a load or burden; to lay or place as a burden (something heavy or objectionable).
    • (Can we date this quote by Coleridge and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      It is absurd to burden this act on Cromwell.
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

From Old French bordon. See bourdon.

Noun

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.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Ruddiman to this entry?)
  4. (obsolete) Theme, core idea.

Anagrams

Middle English

Etymology 1

From bord +‎ -en (“adjectival ending”)

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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