burden
UK /ˈbɜːdn̩/ · US /ˈbɝdn̩/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms burdens burdening burdened burthen
- noun A heavy load.
- noun A responsibility, onus.
- noun A cause of worry; that which is grievous, wearisome, or oppressive.
- noun The capacity of a vessel, or the weight of cargo that she will carry. “a ship of a hundred tons burden”
- noun (mining) The tops or heads of stream-work which lie over the stream of tin.
- noun (metalworking) The proportion of ore and flux to fuel, in the charge of a blast furnace.
- noun A fixed quantity of certain commodities. “A burden of gad steel is 120 pounds.”
- noun (obsolete, rare) A birth. “… that bore thee at a burden two fair sons.”
- verb (transitive, literally or figuratively) To encumber with a burden. “to burden a nation with taxes”
- verb (transitive) To impose, as a load or burden; to lay or place as a burden (something heavy or objectionable).
- noun (music) A phrase or theme that recurs at the end of each verse in a folk song or ballad.
- noun The drone of a bagpipe.
- noun A theme, a core idea. “the burden of the argument”
- proper noun A surname.
- proper noun A minor city in Cowley County, Kansas, United States.
- proper noun A village in Erpeldange commune, Luxembourg (French spelling).
Synonyms
load encumbrance incumbrance onus loading effect essence core gist burthen weight weight down charge saddle
Antonyms
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English birthene, birthen, birden, from Old English byrden, byrþen, from Proto-West Germanic *burþini, from *burþī, from Proto-Germanic *burþį̄, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to carry, bear”).
Inherited from Middle English burdoun (“accompaniment”), from Old French bordon (“drone”), from Medieval Latin burdō. Doublet of bourdon.
Webster’s 1913
- noun That which is borne or carried; a load.
- noun That which is borne with labor or difficulty; that which is grievous, wearisome, or oppressive.
- verb To encumber with weight (literal or figurative); to lay a heavy load upon; to load.
- verb To oppress with anything grievous or trying; to overload; as, to burden a nation with taxes.
Etymology [OE. burden, burthen, birthen, birden, AS. byredhen; akin to Icel. byredhi, Dan. byrde, Sw. börda, G. bürde, OHG. burdi, Goth. baúr, fr. the root of E. bear, AS. beran, Goth. bairan. *92. See 1st Bear.]
Etymology [OE. burdoun the bass in music, F. bourdon; cf. LL. burdo drone, a long organ pipe, a staff, a mule. Prob. of imitative origin. Cf. Bourdon.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “burden”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details