# burden

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈbɜːdn̩/ · frequency rank #4,829

## Definitions
1. A heavy load.
2. A responsibility, onus.
3. A cause of worry; that which is grievous, wearisome, or oppressive.
4. The capacity of a vessel, or the weight of cargo that she will carry.
5. The tops or heads of stream-work which lie over the stream of tin.
6. The proportion of ore and flux to fuel, in the charge of a blast furnace.
7. A fixed quantity of certain commodities.
8. A birth.
9. The total amount of toxins, parasites, cancer cells, plaque or similar present in an organism.
10. The distance between rows of blastholes parallel to the major free face (i.e. face of the excavation)

## Etymology
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”).

## Easily confused with
- **burn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/burden-vs-burn)
- **burke** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/burden-vs-burke)
- **buried** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/burden-vs-buried)
- **burned** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/burden-vs-burned)
- **burger** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/burden-vs-burger)
- **Burton** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/burden-vs-burton)
- **burner** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/burden-vs-burner)
- **burley** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/burden-vs-burley)
- **burnet** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/burden-vs-burnet)
- **Burney** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/burden-vs-burney)
- **burdened** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/burden-vs-burdened)
- **bren** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bren-vs-burden)
- **Biden** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/biden-vs-burden)
- **Baden** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/baden-vs-burden)
- **Boden** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boden-vs-burden)
- **border** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/border-vs-burden)
- **barren** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/barren-vs-burden)
- **bergen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bergen-vs-burden)
- **Borden** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/borden-vs-burden)
- **Bowden** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bowden-vs-burden)

## Common misspellings (9)
`bburden`, `bruden`, `budren`, `burdden`, `burdenn`, `burdne`, `buredn`, `burrden`, `ubrden`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/burden