burden

English has two words spelled burden: the load, and the refrain or main theme of a song, which was influenced in form by the first.^[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈbɜːdn̩/ (UK); /ˈbɝdn̩/ (US)^[4]

burden¹ load

Etymology

The load is Middle English burthen, burden, inherited from Old English byrþen (“load, weight, charge”),^[1][3][2][5] from Proto-West Germanic *burþinjō, from the root of beran (“to carry”) (see bear),^[1][2] cognate with Old High German burdī, Old Norse byrðr and Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌸𐌴𐌹 (baurþei),^[1][2] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to carry, bear children”).^[3] The change from -th- to -d- began in the 12th century, as in murder.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A load: Old English, before 830, in the Vespasian Psalter.^[1]

Semantic evolution

A load of duty, responsibility or sorrow is from about 971,^[6] and Old English also used it for a child, that which is borne in the womb.^[3][6] A ship's carrying capacity is from 1388, and the archaic spelling burthen is sometimes kept for it.^[6][3] The burden of proof is from the 1590s, translating Latin onus probandi,^[3][6] and the beast of burden from 1740.^[3] The verb, to load, is from 1541,^[1][5] and burdensome from 1578.^[1]

Timeline

• before 830 – a load.^[1]
• c. 971 – a load of duty or sorrow.^[6]
• 1388 – a ship's capacity.^[6]
• 1541 – the verb.^[1]
• 1590s – burden of proof.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A heavy load carried.
2. Something oppressive or hard to bear, such as a duty or worry.
3. (law) The duty to prove a disputed claim: the burden of proof.
4. The carrying capacity of a ship.

Verb

1. To load or weigh down; to oppress.

Word family

• burdensome
• overburden
• unburden
• burthen

burden² refrain, main theme

Etymology

The refrain is a fusion of the first burden with Middle English burdoun, a bass accompaniment,^[1][2] borrowed from Old French bourdon (“bumblebee, drone”) or Medieval Latin burdo, a drone bass, of imitative origin (see bourdon).^[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A low undersong or bass accompaniment: probably about 1300 as burdoun in Barnhart,^[1] the late 14th century in Etymonline.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The refrain or chorus of a song is from 1598, in Francis Bacon's Sacred Meditations, or the 1590s in Etymonline.^[1][3] The chief theme or main idea, as in the burden of my song, is a figurative use from 1649.^[1][3] Hoad suggests the form was influenced by the idea that the bass or refrain was carried by the melody.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – burdoun, a bass accompaniment.^[1]
• 1598 – a refrain.^[1]
• 1649 – the main theme.^[1][3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The main theme or gist of a speech or piece of writing.
2. The refrain or chorus of a song.

Related words

• bear
• birth
• bourdon

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
2. ^ a b c d e f g Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press