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burden - 13 dictionary results

bur⋅den

1  [bur-dn]
Use burden in a Sentence
–noun
1. that which is carried; load: a horse's burden of rider and pack.
2. that which is borne with difficulty; obligation; onus: the burden of leadership.
3. Nautical.
a. the weight of a ship's cargo.
b. the carrying capacity of a ship.
4. Mining. overburden (def. 3).
5. Metallurgy. the minerals charged into a blast furnace or steelmaking furnace.
6. Accounting. overhead (def. 6).
–verb (used with object)
7. to load heavily.
8. to load oppressively; trouble.
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME, var. of burthen, OE byrthen; akin to G Bürde, Goth baurthei; see bear 1

Related forms:
bur⋅den⋅er, noun
bur⋅den⋅less, adjective

Synonyms:
1. See load. 2. weight, encumbrance, impediment. 8. weigh down, saddle, try, afflict, perturb, plague, grieve, vex.

bur⋅den

2  [bur-dn]
–noun
1. the main point, message, or idea.
2. Music. the refrain or recurring chorus of a song.
Origin:
1275–1325; ME bordoun, burdoun < OF bourdon droning sound, instrument making such a sound

Synonyms:
1. substance, core, crux, nucleus, essence.

o⋅ver⋅bur⋅den

  [v. oh-ver-bur-dn; n. oh-ver-bur-dn]
–verb (used with object)
1. to load with too great a burden; overload: He was overburdened with cares.
–noun
2. an excessive burden.
3. Also called burden, capping. Mining. waste earth and rock covering a mineral deposit.
Origin:
1570–80; over- + burden 1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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bur·den 1   (bûr'dn)   
n.  
  1. Something that is carried.
    1. Something that is emotionally difficult to bear.
    2. A source of great worry or stress; weight: The burden of economic sacrifice rests on the workers of the plant.
    3. The amount of cargo that a vessel can carry.
    4. The weight of the cargo carried by a vessel at one time.
  3. A responsibility or duty: The burden of organizing the campaign fell to me.
  4. Nautical
    1. The amount of cargo that a vessel can carry.
    2. The weight of the cargo carried by a vessel at one time.
  5. The amount of a disease-causing entity present in an organism.
tr.v.   bur·dened, bur·den·ing, bur·dens
  1. To weigh down; oppress.
  2. To load or overload.

[Middle English, from Old English byrthen; see bher-1 in Indo-European roots.]
Synonyms: These nouns denote something onerous or troublesome: the burden of a guilty conscience; indebtedness that is an affliction; a temper that is her cross; a troublemaker who is a trial to the teacher; suffered many tribulations in rising from poverty. See Also Synonyms at substance.
bur·den 2   (bûr'dn)   
n.  
  1. A principal or recurring idea; a theme: "The burden of what he said was to defend enthusiastically the conservative aristocracy" (J.A. Froude). See Synonyms at substance.
  2. Music
    1. The chorus or refrain of a composition, especially of a 15th-century carol.
    2. A drone, as of a bagpipe or pedal point.
    3. Archaic The bass accompaniment to a song.

[Variant of bourdon.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Burden

Bur"den\ (b[^u]"d'n), n. [Written also burthen.] [OE. burden, burthen, birthen, birden, AS. byr[eth]en; akin to Icel. byr[eth]i, Dan. byrde, Sw. b["o]rda, G. b["u]rde, OHG. burdi, Goth. ba['u]r[thorn]ei, fr. the root of E. bear, AS. beran, Goth. bairan. [root]92. See 1st Bear.]

1. That which is borne or carried; a load.

Plants with goodly burden bowing. --Shak.

2. That which is borne with labor or difficulty; that which is grievous, wearisome, or oppressive.

Deaf, giddy, helpless, left alone, To all my friends a burden grown. --Swift.

3. The capacity of a vessel, or the weight of cargo that she will carry; as, a ship of a hundred tons burden.

4. (Mining) The tops or heads of stream-work which lie over the stream of tin.

5. (Metal.) The proportion of ore and flux to fuel, in the charge of a blast furnace. --Raymond.

6. A fixed quantity of certain commodities; as, a burden of gad steel, 120 pounds.

7. A birth. [Obs. & R.] --Shak.

Beast of burden, an animal employed in carrying burdens.

Burden of proof [L. onus probandi] (Law), the duty of proving a particular position in a court of law, a failure in the performance of which duty calls for judgment against the party on whom the duty is imposed.

Syn: Burden, Load.

Usage: A burden is, in the literal sense, a weight to be borne; a load is something laid upon us to be carried. Hence, when used figuratively, there is usually a difference between the two words. Our burdens may be of such a nature that we feel bound to bear them cheerfully or without complaint. They may arise from the nature of our situation; they may be allotments of Providence; they may be the consequences of our errors. What is upon us, as a load, we commonly carry with greater reluctance or sense of oppression. Men often find the charge of their own families to be a burden; but if to this be added a load of care for others, the pressure is usually serve and irksome.

Burden

Bur"den\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Burdened; p. pr. & vb. n. Burdening.]

1. To encumber with weight (literal or figurative); to lay a heavy load upon; to load.

I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened. --2 Cor. viii. 13.

2. To oppress with anything grievous or trying; to overload; as, to burden a nation with taxes.

My burdened heart would break. --Shak.

3. To impose, as a load or burden; to lay or place as a burden (something heavy or objectionable). [R.]

It is absurd to burden this act on Cromwell. --Coleridge.

Syn: To load; encumber; overload; oppress.

Burden

Bur"den\ (b[^u]r"d'n), n. [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.]

1. The verse repeated in a song, or the return of the theme at the end of each stanza; the chorus; refrain. Hence: That which is often repeated or which is dwelt upon; the main topic; as, the burden of a prayer.

I would sing my song without a burden. --Shak.

2. The drone of a bagpipe. --Ruddiman.

Burden

Bur"den\, n. [See Burdon.] A club. [Obs.] --Spenser.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : burden
Spanish: carga,
German: die Last,
Japanese: 荷
More Translations »

burden 
O.E. byrðen "a load," from P.Gmc. *burthinjo "that which is borne" (cf. O.N. byrðr, O.S. burthinnia, Ger. bürde, Goth. baurþei), from PIE *bher- "carry, give birth." The shift from -th- to -d- took place beginning 12c. (cf. murder). Archaic burthen is occasionally retained for the specific sense of "capacity of a ship." Sense of "leading idea" (1649) and "refrain or chorus of a song" (1598) are from use in M.E. bibles to translate Heb. massa "lifting up (of the voice), oracle;" but this sense is generally taken in Eng. as "a heavy lot, fate."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: bur·den
Function: noun
1 : something that is a duty, obligation, or responsibility burden of proving every element of the offense> burdens> <burden of pleading the necessary elements>
2 : BURDEN OF PROOF burden on the insanity issue —Case & Comment>
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Main Entry: bur·den
Pronunciation: 'b&rd-&n
Function: noun
: LOAD3burden> burden>
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Burden

(1.) A load of any kind (Ex. 23:5). (2.) A severe task (Ex. 2:11). (3.) A difficult duty, requiring effort (Ex. 18:22). (4.) A prophecy of a calamitous or disastrous nature (Isa. 13:1; 17:1; Hab. 1:1, etc.).

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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