Link Centre Dictionary

burden

bur·den

UK/bʌɾdn̩/ US/ˈbɜːdn̩/ common
noun (4) verb (2)

noun

1.

an onerous or difficult concern

  • “the burden of responsibility”
  • “that”
Synonyms
2.

weight to be borne or conveyed

Synonyms
3.
4.

the central idea that is expanded in a document or discourse

verb

1.

weight down with a load

Synonyms
Antonyms
2.

impose a task upon, assign a responsibility to

  • “He charged her with cleaning up all the files over the weekend”
Synonyms

Origin

Inherited from 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”).

Phrases

  • beast of burden
  • burden basket
  • burden of persuasion
  • burden of production
  • burden of proof
  • debt burden
  • double burden
  • white man's burden

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.