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burden

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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.
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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.
Cite This Source Link To burden
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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Word Origin & History

overburden  (v.)
"to put too much weight on," 1532, from over + burden. Earliest uses are figurative.

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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Legal Dictionary

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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Medical Dictionary

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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Bible Dictionary

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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