SYNONYMS | EXAMPLES | WORD ORIGIN adjective Navigation (of a vessel) required to yield to a vessel having the right of way. Compare privileged(def 5) . noun that which is carried; load: a horse's burden of rider and pack.
that which is borne with difficulty; obligation; onus: the burden of leadership.
Nautical the weight of a ship's cargo. the carrying capacity of a ship. Metallurgy the minerals charged into a blast furnace or steelmaking furnace.
Show More
verb (used with object) to load heavily.
to load oppressively; trouble.
Show More
Origin of burden 1 before 1000; Middle English, variant of
burthen, Old English byrthen; akin to
German Bürde, Gothic baurthei; see
bear1 Related forms bur·den·er , noun bur·den·less , adjective Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for burdened Contemporary Examples of burdened Huckabee is also not burdened by, or beholden to, foreign investors.
He was wonderful, with Laura Linney, as a burdened brother and sister looking after an ailing parent in The Savages (2007).
Conservatives, on the other hand, burdened with no such principles, can let it rip.
Further, I never wanted to have a child who could possibly be burdened with what I grew up in.
Cystic Fibrosis, a genetic malady, dooms its sufferers to a short and burdened life.
Historical Examples of burdened I would sooner you had killed me than burdened my soul with your death.
He is not to be burdened for ever with the sense of his sins.
At the next moment there was the sound from without of burdened footsteps.
Especially were they burdened with books on economics and political science.
The conscience of to-day is burdened with a load well-nigh unbearable.
British Dictionary definitions for burdened noun something that is carried; load
something that is exacting, oppressive, or difficult to bear the burden of responsibility Related adjective: onerous
nautical the cargo capacity of a ship the weight of a ship's cargo Show More
verb (tr) (sometimes foll by up) to put or impose a burden on; load
to weigh down; oppress the old woman was burdened with cares
Show More
Word Origin for burden Old English byrthen ; related to beran to bear 1 , Old Frisian berthene burden, Old High German burdin
noun a line of words recurring at the end of each verse of a ballad or similar song; chorus or refrain
the principal or recurrent theme of a speech, book, etc
Show More
Word Origin for burden C16: from Old French bourdon bass horn, droning sound, of imitative origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for burdened n.1 "a load," Old English byrðen "a load, weight, charge, duty;" also "a child;" from Proto-Germanic *burthinjo- "that which is borne" (cf. Old Norse byrðr , Old Saxon burthinnia , German bürde , Gothic baurþei ), from PIE root *bher- (1) "to bear, to carry; give birth" (see infer ).
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." Burden of proof is recorded from 1590s.
Show More
n.2 "leading idea," 1640s, a figurative use from earlier sense "refrain or chorus of a song," 1590s, originally "bass accompaniment to music" (late 14c.), from Old French bordon "bumble-bee, drone," or directly from Medieval Latin burdonom "drone, drone bass" (source of French bourdon , Spanish bordon , Portuguese bordão , Italian bordone ), of echoic origin.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
