burden

plural burdens · alternative archaic burthen

1. A heavy load.

   I know that this was Life,—the track ⁠Whereon with equal feet we fared; ⁠And then, as now, the day prepared The daily burden for the back.

   1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXV”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 42

   1 more example

   There were four or five men in the vault already, and I could hear more coming down the passage, and guessed from their heavy footsteps that they were carrying burdens.

   [1898], J[ohn] Meade Falkner, Moonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934, →OCLC

2. A responsibility, onus.
3. 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.

4. The capacity of a vessel, or the weight of cargo that she will carry.

   a ship of a hundred tons burden

   1 more example

   "[…] The quay is upwards of 1,000 feet in length, and capable of accommodating more than 100 sail of traders; and there are generally a considerable number of vessels of from 40 to 300 tons burden, from various parts of the world, waiting to receive their cargoes."

   1945 May and June, Charles E. Lee, “The Penrhyn Railway and its Locomotives—1”, in Railway Magazine, page 142, text published 1848

5. businessThe tops or heads of stream-work which lie over the stream of tin.
6. artsThe proportion of ore and flux to fuel, in the charge of a blast furnace.
7. A fixed quantity of certain commodities.

   A burden of gad steel is 120 pounds.

8. obsoleterareA birth.

   … that bore thee at a burden two fair sons.

9. medicineThe total amount of toxins, parasites, cancer cells, plaque or similar present in an organism.
10. blastingThe distance between rows of blastholes parallel to the major free face (i.e. face of the excavation)

present singular third person burdens · participle present burdening · participle past burdened · past burdened · alternative archaic burthen

1. figurativelyliterallytransitiveTo encumber with a burden.

   to burden a nation with taxes

   3 more examples

   My burdened heart would break.

   1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]

   This ſtraunge vnwelcome and vnhappie newes, […] Burdens my heart, and interrupts my ſleepe, […]

   1593, anonymous author, The Life and Death of Iacke Straw […], →OCLC, Act I

   For I meane not that other men bee eaſed, and you burthened: […]

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Corinthians 8:13, column 2

2. transitiveTo impose, as a load or burden; to lay or place as a burden (something heavy or objectionable).

   He was beginning to forget his burdening, despairing mood of a short while ago.

   1964, Philip K. Dick, “FOUR”, in Clans of the Alphane Moon, United States: Ace Books, →OCLC; republished London: HarperCollinsPublishers, 1996, →ISBN, page 39

plural burdens

1. entertainmentA phrase or theme that recurs at the end of each verse in a folk song or ballad.

   Foot it featly here and there; / And, sweet sprites, the burden bear.

   1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]

   1 more example

   As commonly used, the refrain, or burden, not only is limited to lyric verse, but depends for its impression upon the force of monotone - both in sound and thought.

   1846, Edgar Allan Poe, The Philosophy of Composition

2. The drone of a bagpipe.

   BURDEN in some musical instruments, the Drone or Bass, and the pipe or string that plays it

   1740, Sébastien de Brossard, James Grassineau, A Musical Dictionary

3. A theme, a core idea.

   the burden of the argument

plural Burdens

1. countableuncountableA surname.
2. countableuncountableA minor city in Cowley County, Kansas, United States.
3. countableuncountableA village in Erpeldange commune, Luxembourg (French spelling).