Adjacent Words

Burden definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

BURD'EN, n. burd'n; written also burthen. [L. fero,or porto.]
1. That which is borne or carried; a load. Hence,
2. That which is borne with labor or difficulty; that which is grievous, wearisome or oppressive.
3. A birth.
4. The verse repeated in a song, or the return of the theme at the end of each verse; the chorus; so called from the application of this word to the drone or base, and the pipe or string which plays it, in an instrument. A chord which is to be divided, to perform the intervals of music,when open and undivided, is also called the burden.
5. In common language, that which is often repeated; a subject on which one dwells.
6. A fixed quantity of certain commodities; as a burden of gad steel, 120 pounds.
7. The contents of a ship; the quantity or number of tons, a vessel will carry; as a ship of a hundred tons burden.
8. A club. [Not in use.]
BURD'EN, v.t. burd'n. To load; to lay on a heavy load; to incumber with weight. Hence,
1. To oppress with any thing grievous; as, to burden a nation with taxes.
2. To surcharge; as, to burden the memory.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an onerous or difficult concern; "the burden of responsibility"; "that's a load off my mind" [syn: burden, load, encumbrance, incumbrance, onus]
2: weight to be borne or conveyed [syn: load, loading, burden]
3: the central meaning or theme of a speech or literary work [syn: effect, essence, burden, core, gist]
4: the central idea that is expanded in a document or discourse v
1: weight down with a load [syn: burden, burthen, weight, weight down] [ant: disburden, unburden]
2: impose a task upon, assign a responsibility to; "He charged her with cleaning up all the files over the weekend" [syn: charge, saddle, burden]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Old English byrthen; akin to Old English beran to carry — more at bear Date: before 12th century 1. a. something that is carried ; load b. duty, responsibility 2. something oppressive or worrisome 3. a. the bearing of a load — usually used in the phrase beast of burden b. capacity for carrying cargo <a ship of a hundred tons burden> 4. load 11 <worm burden> <cancer burden> II. transitive verb (burdened; burdening) Date: 1541 load, oppress <I will not burden you with a lengthy account> III. noun Etymology: Middle English burdoun, from Anglo-French burdun a drone bass, of imitative origin Date: 14th century 1. archaic a bass or accompanying part 2. a. chorus, refrain b. a central topic ; theme

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a load, esp. a heavy one. 2 an oppressive duty, obligation, expense, emotion, etc. 3 the bearing of loads (beast of burden). 4 (also archaic burthen) a ship's carrying-capacity, tonnage. 5 a the refrain or chorus of a song. b the chief theme or gist of a speech, book, poem, etc. --v.tr. load with a burden; encumber, oppress. Phrases and idioms: burden of proof the obligation to prove one's case. Derivatives: burdensome adj. Etymology: OE byrthen: rel. to BIRTH

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Burden Bur"den, n. [See Burdon.] A club. [Obs.] --Spenser.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Burdon Bur"don, n. [See Bourdon.] A pilgrim's staff. [Written also burden.] --Rom. of R.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(burdens, burdening, burdened) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. If you describe a problem or a responsibility as a burden, you mean that it causes someone a lot of difficulty, worry, or hard work. The developing countries bear the burden of an enormous external debt... Her death will be an impossible burden on Paul... The financial burden will be more evenly shared. N-COUNT: usu with supp, oft N of/on n 2. A burden is a heavy load that is difficult to carry. (FORMAL) N-COUNT 3. If someone burdens you with something that is likely to worry you, for example a problem or a difficult decision, they tell you about it. We decided not to burden him with the news. VERB: V n with n, also V n 4. see also beast of burden

Easton's Bible Dictionary

(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.).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

bur'-dn.

1. In the Old Testament:

In the Old Testament more than one word is rendered "burden."

(1) massa', from a root nasa' "he lifted up." Thus literally any load is called massa' (Ex 23:5; Nu 4:15,24,27 ff; 2Ki 5:17; 8:9). Figuratively, people are a burden (Nu 11:11,17; De 1:12; 2Sa 15:33; 19:35). A man may be a burden to himself (Job 7:20). Iniquities are a burden (Ps 38:4). Taxes may be a burden (Ho 8:10).

(2) In both the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) massa' is translated "burden," as applied to certain prophetic utterances; but both the American Revised Version, margin and the Revised Version, margin have "oracle." Examples are Isa 13:1; 14:28, and often; Jer 23:33,36,38, no marginal reading; Eze 12:10; Na 1:1; Hab 1:1; Zec 9:1; 12:1; Mal 1:1. As was natural under the circumstances, such oracles usually denounced judgment upon place or people. Hence, probably the translation "burden." But some of these prophetic utterances do not contain denunciation or threat (Zec 12). The passage in Jer, moreover, implies that the prophet used the term in the sense of "oraele," for scoffers are reproved for perverting the word and giving it the meaning "burden." Massa', therefore, means something taken up with solemnity upon the lips, whether threatening or not, and the rendering, "burden," ought most likely to be given up.

The word mas'-eth, of the same derivation as massa', is applied to foolish oracles (La 2:14 the King James Version, oracles the American Standard Revised Version, burdens the American Revised Version, margin, burdens the Revised Version (British and American), oracles the Revised Version, margin; Am 5:11, burdens the King James Version, exactions the American Standard Revised Version and the Revised Version (British and American)).

Massa' is used also in Pr 30:1 and Pr 31:1, and is variously rendered prophecy (the King James Version), oracle (American Revised Version), burden, or the name of the speaker's country (Revised Version margin, the American Revised Version, margin), oracle (Revised Version). The reading is doubtful, but probably the reference is to the speaker's country- -"Jakeh, of Massa" (compare Ge 25:14), "Lemuel king of Massa."

Other words translated "burden" are from the root cabhal, "to bear a load" (Ne 4:17; Ps 81:6; 1Ki 11:28; King James Version margin, charge the King James Version, labor the American Standard Revised Version and the Revised Version (British and American), burden the American Revised Version, margin and the Revised Version, margin, Ex 5:4,5; 6:6,7; Isa 10:27; Isa 14:25).

2. In the New Testament:

In the New Testament several Greek words mean "burden."

(1) baros, "something heavy." Burdens of the day (Mt 20:12), the burden of duty to be borne, a difficult requirement (Ac 15:28; Re 2:24). The burden of one's moral infirmities (Ga 6:2).

(2) phortion, "something to be borne." The obligation which Christ imposes (Mt 11:30); the legal ordinances of the Pharisees (Lu 11:46); a man's individual responsibility (Ga 6:5). Whether any clear and consistent distinction can be made between these two words is doubtful. Probably, however, phortion refers to the load as something to be borne, whether heavy or light, whilst baros may be an oppressive load. According to Lightfoot baros may suggest a load of which a man may rightly rid himself should occasion serve, but phortion a burden which he is expected to bear, as every soldier carries his own pack. But most likely too much weight should not be given to these distinctions.

(3) There is also the word gomos, "the freight" of a ship (Ac 21:3); compare ogkos, weight or encumbrance which impedes the runner's progress to the goal (Heb 12:1), with particular reference to the superfluous flesh which an athlete seeks to get rid of in training (compare 1Co 9:24-27), and figuratively whatever hinders the full development of Christian manhood.

George Henry Trever

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n.; (also burthen) 1. Load, weight. 2. Cargo, freight, lading. 3. Capacity, carrying capacity, tonnage. 4. Encumbrance, clog, impediment, incubus, grievance, trial, trouble, sorrow, affliction, drag weight, dead weight. 5. Chorus, refrain. 6. Main topic, drift, tenor, point, substance, reiterated doctrine. II. v. a. Load, overload, overlay, oppress, surcharge, put a burden upon, grieve, try, afflict.

Moby Thesaurus

Spenserian stanza, accommodation, add, adjoin, affix, afflict, affliction, agglutinate, agitate, albatross, allegiance, amount, anacrusis, annex, antistrophe, append, arraignability, arraignableness, assigned task, attach, bag, bale, bane, barrel, basis, bass, bass passage, bear down on, bear hard upon, bis, bitter cup, bitter draft, bitter draught, bitter pill, blameworthiness, bloody hands, bob, body, book, bother, bottle, bounden duty, bourdon, box, bridge, bugbear, burden of care, burden with, burdening, burthen, business, busy, cadence, calamity, call of duty, can, cankerworm of care, canto, capacity, care, cargo, carload, cartload, case, censurability, censurableness, chant, chapter, charge, chargeability, charging, chest voice, chorus, clog, coda, coloratura, commitment, complicate, complicity, concern, conjoin, content, cordage, couplet, cramp, crate, criminality, cripple, cross, crown of thorns, crush one, crushing burden, culpability, cumber, cumbrance, curse, deadweight, death, decorate, dedication, deference, demand, destruction, development, devoir, devotion, difficulty, dirty hands, disadvantage, discomfort, disease, disquiet, distich, distress, disturb, ditto, division, drag, drive, drone, drone bass, duties and responsibilities, duty, embarrass, embarrassment, encumber, encumbrance, enjoin, enmesh, ensnarl, entangle, entoil, entrammel, entrap, entwine, envoi, epode, essence, ethics, evil, exact, exhaust, exposition, fag, falsetto, fasten upon, fealty, fetter, figure, fill, focus of attention, focus of interest, folderol, freight, freight with, gall, gall and wormwood, gist, glue on, go hard with, go ill with, gravamen, grievance, guilt, guiltiness, guilty conscience, hamper, hamstring, handicap, harm, harmonic close, haul, haunt, haunt the memory, head, head voice, heading, heap, heap up, heptastich, hexastich, hitch on, hobble, homage, impeachability, impeachableness, impede, impediment, impedimenta, imperative, implication, impose, impose on, impose upon, imposition, inconvenience, incubus, inculpation, incumbency, indictability, indictableness, infix, inflict on, inflict upon, infliction, interlude, intermezzo, introductory phrase, involve, involvement, issue, join with, keep busy, lade, lading, lame, lay, lay on, levy, lie on, lime, limit, line, line of duty, living issue, load, load with care, loading, loyalty, lumber, main point, mass, matter, matter in hand, measure, meat, millstone, mission, monostich, motif, motive, movement, musical phrase, musical sentence, must, nemesis, net, obligation, obsess, octastich, octave, octet, onus, open wound, oppress, oppression, ornament, ottava rima, ought, overburden, overdrive, overload, overtask, overtax, overtaxing, overweigh, overweight, overweighting, overwork, pack, pack away, pack of troubles, part, passage, paste on, payload, peccancy, peck of troubles, penalty, pentastich, period, perturb, pest, pestilence, phrase, pile, pith, place, plague, plus, pocket, point, point at issue, point in question, postfix, poundage, prefix, press down, press hard upon, pressure, prey on, problem, purport, put, put down, put on, put to it, put upon, put with, quantity, quatrain, question, red-handedness, refrain, repeat, repetend, reprehensibility, reproachableness, reprovability, reprovableness, resolution, respect, response, rest hard upon, rhyme royal, ritornello, room, rubric, running sore, sack, saddle, saddle with, saddling, scourge, sea of troubles, section, self-imposed duty, septet, sestet, set, sextet, shackle, ship, shipload, slap on, snarl, sorrow, space, stack, stanza, statement, stave, store, stow, stowage, strain, strophe, subject, subject matter, subject of thought, subject to, subjoin, substance, suffix, superadd, superincumbency, superpose, surcharge, sweat, syllable, tack on, tag, tag on, tailpiece, tangle, task, tax, taxing, tercet, terza rima, tetrastich, text, theme, thorn, thrust, tire, toil, tonnage, topic, torment, trailerload, trainload, trammel, treble, triplet, tristich, trouble, truckload, try one, tutti, tutti passage, undersong, unite with, upset, upshot, vanload, variation, verse, vexation, visitation, voce, voce di petto, voce di testa, voice, volume, waters of bitterness, wear out, weary, weigh, weigh down, weigh heavy on, weigh on, weigh upon, weight, weight down, weight down with, white elephant, woe, work, yoke with