Burden

How to spell burden

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce burden

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does burden mean?

1. nounA heavy load, or a duty, worry, or responsibility that is difficult to bear.
2. verbTo load someone heavily, or to weigh them down with a duty, worry, or obligation.

Burden in a sentence

• noun

  The cost of repairs became a real financial burden for the family.

• verb

  He did not want to burden his colleagues with extra paperwork.

• noun

  Caring for two elderly parents placed a heavy burden on her.

• verb

  The new rules burden small firms with endless reporting.

Where does burden come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Burden comes from the Old English byrthen, meaning 'a load' or 'that which is carried', and it descends directly from the verb beran, 'to bear' or 'to carry', the same root that gives us the modern English 'bear' and 'birth'. The early sense was strictly physical, the actual weight a person or animal hauled, but by the medieval period it had broadened to cover figurative loads such as duty, guilt, taxation, and grief. The spelling drifted over the centuries from byrthen through Middle English forms like birthen and burthen, and the 'th' eventually softened to 'd' to give the modern burden. An older spelling 'burthen' survived in legal and nautical language well into the nineteenth century, which is why the soft middle of the word can feel unsettled. The unstressed second syllable, sounding like a vague 'duhn', is the main spelling trap, since it gives no clear hint of the letters d-e-n.

How the word is built

• burth- (Old English byrthen: a load, that which is borne, from beran 'to bear, carry')
• -en (noun-forming suffix)