Meaning

noun an onerous or difficult concern

noun weight to be borne or conveyed

noun the central meaning or theme of a speech or literary work

originInherited 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”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0