# burden
## English
### 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: /ˈbɜːdn̩/
* (General American) IPA: /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.
* 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.
* 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

    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

Bulgarian: натоварвам (bg) (natovarvam), обременявам (bg) (obremenjavam)
Dutch: bezwaren (nl), opgescheept zitten met
Egyptian: (hnn)
Finnish: kuormata (fi)
French: incomber (fr)
Galician: cangar (gl), cargar (gl)
German: belasten (de), beladen (de), beschweren (de), aufbürden (de)
Gothic: 𐌺𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌾𐌰𐌽 (kaurjan)
Greek:
Ancient: καταβαρύνω (katabarúnō)
Indonesian: membebani (id)
Italian: gravare (it), appioppare (it), rifilare (it), oberare (it)
Korean: 짐을 지우다 (jimeul jiuda)
Latin: gravō (la), dēgravō
Maori: whakawaha
Polish: obciążać (pl) impf, obarczać impf
Portuguese: carregar (pt)
Romanian: însărcina (ro), împovăra (ro), îngreuna (ro)
Russian: обременя́ть (ru) impf (obremenjátʹ), обремени́ть (ru) pf (obremenítʹ), отягоща́ть (ru) impf (otjagoščátʹ), отяготи́ть (ru) pf (otjagotítʹ)
Spanish: gravar (es), endilgar (es), endiñar (es), enjaretar (es)
Swedish: belasta (sv) :

#### Derived terms

* afterburden
* after-burden
* beast of burden
* bioburden
* burden basket
* burdener
* burdenless
* burden of persuasion
* burden of production
* burden of proof
* burdenous
* burdensome
* debt burden
* disburden
* double burden
* emburden
* enburden
* enburdenment
* overburden
* reburden
* sideburden
* unburden
* underburden
* white man's burden

### 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

* bunder, burned, unbred

## Middle English
### Etymology 1
#### Adjective

burden
* Alternative form of borden

### Etymology 2

From burde +‎ -en (plural ending).

#### Noun

burden
* plural of burde

## West Frisian
### Noun

burden
* plural of burd