I. ˈbərd ə n, ˈbə̄d-, ˈbəid- noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English burden, burthen, from Old English byrthen; akin to Old Saxon burthinnia burden, Old High German burdī, Old Norse byrthr, Gothic baurthei; derivatives from the root of Old English beran to carry — more at bear
1.
a. : something that is carried : load
a donkey hidden under his burden of firewood
a burden of dust carried by the wind
images carry the burden of the poem's effect
b. obsolete : a child in the womb
c. : something that is borne as a duty, obligation, or responsibility often with labor or difficulty
the burden of empire
executive burdens
tax burdens
d. : the aggregate load of instruments supplied with current by an instrument transformer in proration usually downward from the actual load in the circuit being metered
2. : something that weighs down, oppresses, or causes worry
she came with little but her burden of fear
: encumbrance
to have the burden of a foreign tongue removed was … an inexpressible relief — William Black
3. : lading — usually used in the phrases beast of burden, ship of burden
4. dialect : something the soil brings forth : crop , produce
5. : the capacity of a ship for carrying cargo
a ship of a hundred tons burden
6. Scots law : an obligation, restriction, or encumbrance upon a person or property
7. : the proportion of ore and flux in relation to the coke or other fuel in the charge of an iron blast furnace
8. : the part of the cost of manufacturing that does not contribute directly to production : overhead ; specifically : all manufacturing costs other than direct labor and materials
9.
a. : overburden 2
b.
(1) : the resistance that an explosive charge must overcome in breaking the rock adjacent to a drill hole in mining
(2) : the material that must be moved by the blast
10. : the degree of infestation of an animal body especially with parasitic worms
II. transitive verb
( burdened ; burdened ; burdening -d( ə )niŋ ; burdens )
1. : to load with or as if with something heavy, grievous, unwieldy, difficult, or unmanageable
the numerous pretty things … which burden the tables — Herbert Spencer
burdened his men with endless labors
2. : to trouble, vex, or afflict with nonmaterial burdens
I will not burden you with a lengthy account
: charge
burdening his conscience with a grave moral responsibility
3. archaic : blame , charge
4. : to regulate the ratio of ore and flux to fuel in charging an iron blast furnace
Synonyms:
encumber , cumber , weigh , weight , load , lade , saddle , charge , tax : burden stresses the fact of bearing a heavy or grievous weight, often figuratively, sometimes literally
men burdened with such intellectual tasks as theirs — H.O.Taylor
encumber is likely to suggest cumbersome and unwieldy burdens making progress difficult, literally or figuratively
unencumbered with luggage they would soon overtake the coach — Charles Dickens
the overheavy richness and encumbered gait of the Asiatic style — Matthew Arnold
cumber suggests what is unwieldy, bulky, and cluttering but is less likely to stress motion than encumber
beyond the power of Rome, cumbered already with so many duties — John Buchan
the whole Palace had been burnt in 1698, and its roofless walls still cumbered the river bank — G.M.Trevelyan
Usu. figurative, weigh in such phrases as weigh on one or weigh one down suggests the depressing effect of some burden carried over a long period
the tyranny at Bulaire weighed so heavily on the countryside — T.B.Costain
for nearly a century the Dutch problem had weighed on Spain — Stringfellow Barr
weight now often suggests a tendency to inclination, bias, slanting, often through a contrived arrangement
there is no doubt that the new magazine will be heavily weighted on the American side — Crane Brinton
those who fear that such planning councils … will be nothing but a further addition to an already weighted bureaucracy are in error — Norman Thomas
load is likely to suggest a full or more than adequate supply
her hands … loaded with rings — Victoria Sackville-West
and may suggest a packing with significance or perhaps the slanting associated with weight
the discoverers of a new theory … may have loaded a useful notion with more than it can bear — B.N.Cardozo
his absolutism loaded legality in his favor — Francis Hackett
lade , more common in the past participle laden than in other uses, is occasionally used in situations involving burdens or grief
with rue my heart is laden — A.E.Housman
saddle may suggest an inescapable oppressive burden or responsibility lasting over a long period
the reason being that … the abbeys were saddled with multitudes of statutory masses — G.G.Coulton
the indemnity for the Opium War … saddled the Chinese government with an international debt — Owen & Eleanor Lattimore
charge in this series may refer to either heavy responsibilities or packed or loaded significances
I charge myself with him; let him remain with me — Charles Dickens
all the perennial, elemental processes of nature … were charged for psalmist and prophet with spiritual significance — J.L.Lowes
tax indicates continuing heavy demands
the labor of calculating and recording would have taxed energy beyond endurance — Edward Clodd
III. noun
( -s )
Etymology: by folk etymology (influence of burden ) (I) from bourdon
1. archaic : a bass or accompanying part : drone
I would sing my song without a burden ; thou bringest me out of tune — Shakespeare
2. : the verse repeated in a song or the return of the theme at the end of each stanza : chorus , refrain
3. : a recurring or emphasized idea or theme : central topic : gist
the burden of the argument
words of praise are fraught with that desire to hear lost laughter which is the burden of every century's lament — Agnes Repplier