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burden

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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.

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