burden

Meanings

Noun

• A heavy load.
• A responsibility, onus.
• A cause of worry; that which is grievous, wearisome, or oppressive.
• The capacity of a vessel, or the weight of cargo that she will carry.
• The tops or heads of stream-work which lie over the stream of tin.
• The proportion of ore and flux to fuel, in the charge of a blast furnace.
• A fixed quantity of certain commodities.
• A birth.
• The total amount of toxins, parasites, cancer cells, plaque or similar present in an organism.
• 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.

Verb

• To encumber with a literal or figurative burden.
• To impose, as a load or burden; to lay or place as a burden (something heavy or objectionable).

Origin

• 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").
• From Old French bordon. See bourdon.