Burden Meaning
/ˈbɜːdn̩/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA heavy load.
nounA responsibility, onus.
Sentence Examples
Education should not be a burden on the parents as well as on the children.
Supporting his family was a great burden for him.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The manager felt the ____ of managing a large team during the crisis.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I do not want to be a heavy financial ____ to my family as I get older.
Word Origin & History
Inherited from Middle English burden, birden, burthen, birthen, byrthen, from Old English byrden, byrþen, from Proto-West Germanic *burþini, from *burþī, from Proto-Germanic *burþį̄, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to carry, bear”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"I know that this was Life,—the track
Whereon with equal feet we fared;
And then, as now, the day prepared
The daily burden for the back."
— 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXV”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 42:
"There were four or five men in the vault already, and I could hear more coming down the passage, and guessed from their heavy footsteps that they were carrying burdens."
— [1898], J[ohn] Meade Falkner, Moonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934, →OCLC:
""[…] The quay is upwards of 1,000 feet in length, and capable of accommodating more than 100 sail of traders; and there are generally a considerable number of vessels of from 40 to 300 tons burden, from various parts of the world, waiting to receive their cargoes.""
— 1945 May and June, Charles E. Lee, “The Penrhyn Railway and its Locomotives—1”, in Railway Magazine, page 142, text published 1848:
"My burdened heart would break."
— 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
"This ſtraunge vnwelcome and vnhappie newes, […]
Burdens my heart, and interrupts my ſleepe, […]"
— 1593, anonymous author, The Life and Death of Iacke Straw […], →OCLC, Act I:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The manager felt the ____ of managing a large team during the crisis.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I do not want to be a heavy financial ____ to my family as I get older.