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burden

UK/ˈbɜːdn̩/US/ˈbɝdn̩/
nounB22 meaningsCommon in everyday speech and writing · #2,489 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: burdens, burdened, burdening

A burden is a heavy load you must carry, on your back or on your mind. A heavy burden, the burden of debt, share the burden.

The figurative sense is much the commoner: the burden of proof, the tax burden, a burden on the family. Burden of proof is the legal principle of which side must prove its case, and it decides more trials than any single piece of evidence. As a verb, to burden somebody is to load them with worry or work. Note burdensome, and beast of burden, meaning an animal used for carrying.

Definitions of burden

  1. 1nounburdenA heavy load, physical or mental.B2

    “The debt was a burden on the whole family for years.”

  2. 2verbworryTo load somebody with worry or work.B2

    “She did not want to burden anybody with it.”

Too few real examples of this word to estimate which sense is commonest.

burden is a load.

Where it comes from

Old English byrden comes from beran, to bear — the same root as bear, birth, bier and barrow. Everything in the family is about carrying, and a burden is simply the thing carried.

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *bʰer- — to carry, bear

  2. Proto-Germanic

    *burþį̄

  3. Proto-West Germanic

    *burþini

  4. Old English

    byrden

  5. Middle English

    birthene

  6. English, today

    burden

Middle English birthene, birthen, birden, from Old English byrden, byrþen, from Proto-West Germanic burþini, from burþī, from Proto-Germanic burþį̄, from Proto-Indo-European bʰer- (“to carry, bear”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Big Ideas

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burden in the wild

  • The burden of proof requires a party to produce evidence to establish the truth of facts needed to satisfy all the required legal elements of the dispute.

    Burden of proof (law)

  • The burden of proof is usually on the person who brings a claim in a dispute.

    Burden of proof (law)

  • Excess burdens were first discussed by Adam Smith.

    Excess burden of taxation

  • The burden of proof is the obligation on a party in a dispute to provide sufficient warrant for its position.

    Burden of proof (philosophy)

  • Since a defense is raised by the defendant in a direct attempt to avoid what would otherwise result in liability, the defendant typically holds the burden of proof.

    Defense (legal)

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the byrden family

burden

burden — used about once every 341 pages · #2,489 · point at the bar for the others