burden

== English == === Etymology 1 === Inherited 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(key): /ˈbɜːdn̩/ (General American) IPA(key): /ˈbɝdn̩/ Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)dən ==== Noun ==== burden (plural burdens) A heavy load. 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. (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. (obsolete, rare) A birth. (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 ===== ==== 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. (transitive) To impose, as a load or burden; to lay or place as a burden (something heavy or objectionable). ===== Translations ===== ==== Derived terms ==== === 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. The drone of a bagpipe. Theme, core idea. === References === === Anagrams === bunder, burned, unbred == Middle English == === Etymology 1 === ==== Adjective ==== burden alternative form of borden === Etymology 2 === ==== Noun ==== burden (Early Middle English, West Midland) plural of berde == West Frisian == === Noun === burden plural of burd