burden
EnglishEdit
Etymology 1Edit
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 formsEdit
- burthen (archaic)
PronunciationEdit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈbɜːdn/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈbɝdn/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)dən
NounEdit
burden (plural burdens)
- 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.
- 1898, J. Meade Falkner, Moonfleet Chapter 4
- 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
- (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.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Raymond to this entry?)
- 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.
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
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, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
VerbEdit
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, William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene ii]:
- My burdened heart would break.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, 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).
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
encumber
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to impose a load
Etymology 2Edit
From Old French bordon. See bourdon.
NounEdit
burden (plural burdens)
- (music) A phrase or theme that recurs at the end of each verse in a folk song or ballad.
- 1610, The Tempest, by Shakespeare, act 1 scene 2
- 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.
- 1610, The Tempest, by Shakespeare, act 1 scene 2
- The drone of a bagpipe.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Ruddiman to this entry?)
- Theme, core idea.
- the burden of the argument
AnagramsEdit
Middle EnglishEdit
Etymology 1Edit
From bord + -en (“adjectival ending”)
AdjectiveEdit
burden
- Alternative form of borden
Etymology 2Edit
From burde + -en (“plural ending”)
NounEdit
burden
West FrisianEdit
NounEdit
burden