Wiktionary

burden

See also: Bürden

EnglishEdit

 
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Etymology 1Edit

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 formsEdit

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

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 termsEdit

TranslationsEdit
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.
Translations to be checked

VerbEdit

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).
    • (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 termsEdit
TranslationsEdit

Etymology 2Edit

From Old French bordon. See bourdon.

NounEdit

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. Theme, core idea.
    the burden of the argument

AnagramsEdit

Middle EnglishEdit

Etymology 1Edit

From bord +‎ -en (“adjectival ending”)

AdjectiveEdit

burden

  1. Alternative form of borden

Etymology 2Edit

From burde +‎ -en (“plural ending”)

NounEdit

burden

  1. plural of burde

West FrisianEdit

NounEdit

burden

  1. plural of burd
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