實際扛的重物
字面最原始的一支：真的有重量、真的壓在身上的東西。
burden (physical load) · noun · C1
A heavy thing that a person or animal carries.
負重／背負的東西
核心畫面
You can start from the most physical picture: a heavy load pressing down on someone's back as they carry it. From that weight-on-your-shoulders image, 'burden' stretches to any heavy thing you have to carry — a worry, a duty — even when nothing real sits on your back.
可以先從最實在的畫面出發：一個人背上壓著沉甸甸的重物，一步步扛著走。從這個「壓在肩上的重量」出發，burden 再延…更多收起
可以先從最實在的畫面出發：一個人背上壓著沉甸甸的重物，一步步扛著走。從這個「壓在肩上的重量」出發，burden 再延伸到任何你得扛起來的沉重東西——一份煩惱、一項責任——就算背上其實沒放任何實物。From the word’s history
From Old English byrðen 'a load, weight, charge', from the root *bher- 'to carry' (the same root behind 'bear'). The word literally names 'that which is carried' — so the leap from a physical load to a heavy responsibility is built right into it.
源自古英語 byrðen「負載、重量、負荷」，來自字根 *bher-「攜帶」（也是 bear「承載」的字根）。這個字字面就是「被扛起來的東西」，所以從實體重物跳到沉重的責任，本來就藏在字義裡。
Online Etymology Dictionary (etymonline.com/word/burden)
Three branches
心裡與責任的重擔
把肩上的重量搬到心上：讓人吃力、放不下的煩惱或責任，就像看不見的重物。
burden (responsibility) · noun · C1
Something hard or worrying that you must take care of or be responsible for.
負擔／重擔
舉證責任
同一個「重量」的比喻固定用在法律上：證明某事為真的責任落在誰身上，就像重擔壓在那一方。
burden of proof (legal duty) · noun · C1
The duty to show that something is true, especially in a court of law.
舉證責任
原始詞典資料18 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
Burdenname
- 1
A surname.
- 2
A minor city in Cowley County, Kansas, United States.
- 3
A village in Erpeldange commune, Luxembourg (French spelling).
burdennoun詞源 1/ˈbɜːdn̩/
- 1
A heavy load.
- 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.
- 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.
- 2
A responsibility, onus.
- 3
A cause of worry; that which is grievous, wearisome, or oppressive.
- c. 1710-1730, Jonathan Swift, The Dean's Complaint Translated and Answered Deaf, giddy, helpless, left alone, / To all my friends a burden grown.
- 4
The capacity of a vessel, or the weight of cargo that she will carry.
- a ship of a hundred tons burden
- "[…] 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."
- 5
businessminingThe tops or heads of stream-work which lie over the stream of tin.
- 6
artscraftsengineeringThe proportion of ore and flux to fuel, in the charge of a blast furnace.
- 7
A fixed quantity of certain commodities.
- A burden of gad steel is 120 pounds.
- 8
obsoleterareA birth.
- … that bore thee at a burden two fair sons.
另外 2 個記錄的用法
- 9
medicinesciencesThe 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)
burdenverb詞源 1/ˈbɜːdn̩/
- 1
To encumber with a burden.
- to burden a nation with taxes
- My burdened heart would break.
- 2
To impose, as a load or burden; to lay or place as a burden (something heavy or objectionable).
- He was beginning to forget his burdening, despairing mood of a short while ago.
burdennoun詞源 2
- 1
entertainmentlifestylemusicA phrase or theme that recurs at the end of each verse in a folk song or ballad.
- Foot it featly here and there; / And, sweet sprites, the burden bear.
- As commonly used, the refrain, or burden, not only is limited to lyric verse, but depends for its impression upon the force of monotone - both in sound and thought.
- 2
The drone of a bagpipe.
- BURDEN in some musical instruments, the Drone or Bass, and the pipe or string that plays it
- 3
A theme, a core idea.
- the burden of the argument
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。