overburthen

Meanings

nounoverburthen (countable and uncountable, plural overburthens)

archaiccountableuncountableArchaic form of overburden.
The over burthen of these expenses falls upon the sale of the commodity, and lessens the consumption.
1774, Isaac de Pinto, translated by S. Baggs, An Essay on Circulation and Credit, London: J. Ridley, page 122
1 more example
1832, John W. Colenso, "A Description of Happy-Union Tin Stream-work at Pentuan" in Transactions of the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall, T. Vigurs, Vol. 4, p. 38 https://books.google.ca/books?id=TjK_HG0RIdoC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false The overburthen contains no sea-sand, but is composed of silt and river gravel […] .

verboverburthen (third-person singular simple present overburthens, present participle overburthening, simple past and past participle overburthened)

present singular third person overburthens · participle present overburthening · participle past overburthened · past overburthened

archaicArchaic form of overburden.
In short the last man in the world, one would think, to be overburthened with thoughts, especially those perilous thoughts that must needs belong to a conspirator in any serious project, or even to the underling of such a conspirator.
1924, Herman Melville, chapter 13, in Billy Budd, London: Constable & Co.

Cite this entry

APA

overburthen. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overburthen

MLA

“overburthen.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overburthen. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “overburthen,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overburthen.