Burden, encumber, cumber, weigh, weight, load, lade, tax, charge, saddle are comparable when they mean to lay a heavy load upon or to lie like a heavy load upon a person or thing.
Burden implies the imposition or the carrying of a load that makes one conscious of its weight and that is therefore regarded as grievous, trying, or oppressive.
The term often suggests something that is or seems to be too much to be borne by the mind or spirit.
Encumber specifically suggests the presence of something that impedes, obstructs, hampers, or embarrasses. Even when the term connotes too great a weight, it stresses the fact that the weight is an annoyance or a clog to one’s progress. Consequently it is oftener used of things than of persons.
Cumber is close to encumber but it is less likely to stress motion and more likely to stress what perplexes, worries, discommodes, or inconveniences.
Weigh suggests a load of something (as sorrow, fears, or anxiety) that lies upon the heart, the spirit, or the mind so that it oppresses or depresses it.
Weight differs from weigh in suggesting not a load that oppresses or depresses the heart, mind, or spirit but one that serves as a handicap in a struggle or a disadvantage to be met; the term may be so used that the handicap or disadvantage either may be thought of as residing in the person or thing considered or in the person or thing set against it.
Load and lade carry an implication of overloading but may imply an overabundance that is agreeable as well as one that entails a burden or impresses one as a superfluity.
Tax in its relevant sense means to place an exacting burden or demand upon; it suggests something that strains one to the uttermost.
Charge basically means to load a thing up to its capacity to receive. To this sense have been added new connotations especially of loading beyond a capacity to receive or to contain so that the word now often implies a burdening, an overloading, or a weighing down.
Saddle usually implies the imposition of a burden or encumbrance, ordinarily by another, though sometimes as a result of one’s own fault.