BURDEN

burden, or burthen, (1) (a.s. _byrthen_, from _beran_, to bear), a load, both literally and figuratively; especially the carrying capacity of a ship; in mining and smelting, the tops or heads of stream-work which lie over the stream of tin, and the proportion of ore and flux to fuel in the charge of a blast-furnace. in scots and english law the term is applied to an encumbrance on real or personal property. (2) (from the fr. _bourdon_, a droning, humming sound) an accompaniment to a song, or the refrain of a song; hence a chief or recurrent topic, as "the burden of a speech."