burden
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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
- burthen (archaic)
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈbɜːdn̩/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈbɝdn̩/
Audio (US): (file) - Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)dən
Noun
burden (plural burdens)
- 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[ohn] Meade Falkner, Moonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934, →OCLC:
- 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.
- A responsibility, onus.
- A cause of worry; that which is grievous, wearisome, or oppressive.
- c. 1710-1730, Jonathan Swift, The Dean's Complaint Translated and Answered
- Deaf, giddy, helpless, left alone, / To all my friends a burden grown.
- c. 1710-1730, Jonathan Swift, The Dean's Complaint Translated and Answered
- 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."
- (mining) The tops or heads of stream-work which lie over the stream of tin.
- (metalworking) The proportion of ore and flux to fuel, in the charge of a blast furnace.[1]
- A fixed quantity of certain commodities.
- A burden of gad steel is 120 pounds.
- (obsolete, rare) A birth.
- … that bore thee at a burden two fair sons.
- (medicine) The total amount of toxins, parasites, cancer cells, plaque or similar present in an organism.
- (blasting) The distance between rows of blastholes parallel to the major free face (i.e. face of the excavation)
Translations
heavy load
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responsibility, onus
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cause of worry
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- 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)
- (transitive) To encumber with a literal or figurative burden.
- to burden a nation with taxes
- 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
- My burdened heart would break.
- 1593, anonymous author, The Life and Death of Iacke Straw […], Act I:
- This ſtraunge vnwelcome and vnhappie newes, […]
Burdens my heart, and interrupts my ſleepe, […]
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Corinthians 8:13, column 2:
- For I meane not that other men bee eaſed, and you burthened: […]
- (transitive) To impose, as a load or burden; to lay or place as a burden (something heavy or objectionable).
Translations
encumber
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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)
- (music) A phrase or theme that recurs at the end of each verse in a folk song or ballad.
- 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
- Foot it featly here and there; / And, sweet sprites, the burden bear.
- 1846, Edgar Allan Poe, The Philosophy of Composition:
- As commonly used, the refrain, or burden, not only is limited to lyric verse, but depends for its impression upon the force of monotone - both in sound and thought.
- 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
- Theme, core idea.
- the burden of the argument
References
- Rossiter W[orthington] Raymond (1881) “Burden”, in A Glossary of Mining and Metallurgical Terms. […], Easton, Pa.: [American] Institute [of Mining Engineers], […], →OCLC.
Anagrams
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