burden English · revision 6520

+ 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.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈbɜːdn̩/ ''(UK)''; /ˈbɝdn̩/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ {{homograph|1|load}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 830|origins=ine-pro *bʰer-}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The load is Middle English burthen, burden, [[inh|ang|byrþen|t=load, weight, charge]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) from [[gmw-pro|*burþinjō]], from the root of [[m|ang|beran|t=to carry]] (see [[bear]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) cognate with [[goh|burdī]], [[non|byrðr]] and [[got|𐌱𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌸𐌴𐌹|tr=baurþei]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from PIE [[ine-pro|*bʰer-|t=to carry, bear children]].^(Etymonline) The change from -th- to -d- began in the 12th century, as in [[murder]].^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A load: Old English, before 830, in the Vespasian Psalter.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A load of duty, responsibility or sorrow is from about 971,^(OED 1989) and Old English also used it for a child, that which is borne in the womb.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) A ship's carrying capacity is from 1388, and the archaic spelling burthen is sometimes kept for it.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The ''burden of proof'' is from the 1590s, translating Latin onus probandi,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and the ''beast of burden'' from 1740.^(Etymonline) The verb, to load, is from 1541,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) and [[burdensome]] from 1578.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 830 – a load.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 971 – a load of duty or sorrow.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1388 – a ship's capacity.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1541 – the verb.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1590s – burden of proof.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A heavy [[load]] carried.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Something oppressive or hard to bear, such as a duty or worry.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(law)'' The duty to prove a disputed claim: ''the burden of proof''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The carrying capacity of a ship.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To load or weigh down; to [[oppress]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[burdensome]]

+ * [[overburden]]

+ * [[unburden]]

+ * [[burthen]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|refrain, main theme}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1300}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The refrain is a fusion of the first burden with Middle English burdoun, a bass accompaniment,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) [[bor|fro|bourdon|t=bumblebee, drone]] or Medieval Latin burdo, a drone bass, of imitative origin (see [[bourdon]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A low undersong or bass accompaniment: probably about 1300 as burdoun in Barnhart,^(Barnhart 1988) the late 14th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The refrain or chorus of a song is from 1598, in Francis Bacon's ''Sacred Meditations'', or the 1590s in Etymonline.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The chief theme or main idea, as in ''the burden of my song'', is a figurative use from 1649.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Hoad suggests the form was influenced by the idea that the bass or refrain was ''carried'' by the melody.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1300 – burdoun, a bass accompaniment.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1598 – a refrain.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1649 – the main theme.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The main theme or gist of a speech or piece of writing.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The [[refrain]] or chorus of a song.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[bear]]

+ * [[birth]]

+ * [[bourdon]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}