infringement
Americannoun
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infringements
plural
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a breach or infraction, as of a law, right, or obligation; violation; transgression.
-
an act of infringing.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of infringement
Explanation
An infringement is a minor offense that involves breaking a rule or a law. If your sister takes a chapter from your book and publishes it as her own, you could sue her for copyright infringement. An infringement can result in legal penalties if you’re breaking a law, as in the case of a copyright infringement or a patent infringement. An infringement can also be a violation of a rule or an agreement that applies in a specific situation. In that case there are no legal consequences, but there are still penalties. If the referee sees an infringement of the rules during your soccer game, he’ll penalize your team by awarding your opponents a free kick.
Vocabulary lists containing infringement
Declaration and Resolves of the First Continental Congress
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“Vaccine Controversy Shows Why We Need Markets, Not Mandates” by Ron Paul
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for March 27–April 2, 2021
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The different types of AI-inspired losses range from bodily injury and property damage—caused by, say, an error-prone factory robot—to copyright infringement, unauthorized data disclosures, hallucinated errors and regulatory penalties.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
But now it’s going after Meta for copyright infringement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
The publishers claim they notified Dean's record label of the potential infringement in August, but the music was not pulled from distribution.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
"The unauthorised use of a performer's voice... can be considered an infringement on publicity rights," said presiding judge Aya Takahashi.
From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026
“Our next meeting shall commence tomorrow, lunchtime. The topic: Mr. Owens giving detention out just for talking in math class. It’s a total infringement on our First Amendment rights!”
From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish
Companies that fail to comply with the DMA can be fined up to 10% of annual global revenue, or even up to 20% in case of repeated infringements.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
The EU said the fine's amount took into consideration the nature of the violations, the impact on Europeans and the duration of the infringements.
From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026
“There are some severe civil liberties infringements going on,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
Warriors' Scott Cummings was sent to the bin early in the second period for repeated infringements and Embrose Papier took advantage by skipping over at the line for the Bulls' second try.
From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2026
He was continually marching Antonapoulos down to the courthouse during lunch hour to settle these infringements of the law.
From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
