burthen
/ˈbɝðn̩/noun
burthen is spelled B-U-R-T-H-E-N: 7 letters. It appears about once in every 12 million words in written English, the 102,771st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, burthen means “Rarely used musical tempo, meaning slow and ponderous (e.g., moving under a burden); similar to largo” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of burthen is burthens.
How many letters and syllables are in burthen?
| Letters | 7: B-U-R-T-H-E-N |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 12 million words; the 102,771st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is burthen?
Burthen appears about once in every 12 million words in written English, the 102,771st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce burthen?
- US /ˈbɝðn̩/
- UK /ˈbɜːðn̩/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Neøn-burthen.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of burthen
- burthens plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does burthen mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
archaicArchaic form of burden.
- 2
obsoleteThe tonnage of a ship based on the number of tuns of wine that it could carry in its holds.
- 3
Rarely used musical tempo, meaning slow and ponderous (e.g., moving under a burden); similar to largo.
- 4
A section of music with the tempo mark burthen.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does burthen come from?
Old form of burden. Compare similar development in murder.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).