encumber

[en-kuhm-ber]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR encumber ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to impede or hinder; hamper; retard: Red tape encumbers all our attempts at action.

to block up or fill with what is obstructive or superfluous: a mind encumbered with trivial and useless information.

to burden or weigh down: She was encumbered with a suitcase and several packages.

to burden with obligations, debt, etc.

Also incumber.

Origin of encumber

1300–50; Middle English encombren < Anglo-French, Middle French encombrer, equivalent to en- en-¹ + -combrer, verbal derivative of combre dam, weir < early Medieval Latin combrus < Gaulish *comberos confluence, bringing together (compare Quimper, in Brittany < Breton Kemper); see com-, bear¹

Related formsen·cum·ber·ing·ly, adverbun·en·cum·bered, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for encumber

overburden, obstruct, load, cramp, clog, weight, tax, hamper, overload, charge, lade, handicap, inconvenience, incommode, embarrass, hog-tie, retard, saddle, trammel, discommode

Examples from the Web for encumber

Contemporary Examples of encumber

It should not encumber the banking system we need with failed institutions.
The Geithner Plan Won't Work
James K. Galbraith
March 24, 2009

Historical Examples of encumber

She can not encumber or dispose of her separate estate without his joinder.
The History of Woman Suffrage, Volume IV
Various
You are taking the pieces of our ship along—we do not want to encumber you.
Spacehounds of IPC
Edward Elmer Smith
There are too many of the kind already to encumber our shelves and our catalogues.
The Ship of Fools, Volume 1
Sebastian Brandt
Here is an enemy in full retreat, would they encumber themselves with the colonel?
White Lies
Charles Reade
At first we should not encumber our pupils with accurate demonstration.
Practical Education, Volume II
Maria Edgeworth

British Dictionary definitions for encumber

encumber

incumber

verb (tr)

to hinder or impede; make difficult; hamperencumbered with parcels after going shopping at Christmas; his stupidity encumbers his efforts to learn

to fill with superfluous or useless matter

to burden with debts, obligations, etc

Derived Formsencumberingly or incumberingly, adverb

Word Origin for encumber

C14: from Old French encombrer, from en- 1 + combre a barrier, from Late Latin combrus, of uncertain origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for encumber

early 14c., "burden, vex, inconvenience," from Old French encombrer "to block up, hinder, thwart," from Late Latin incombrare, from in- "in" (see in- (2)) + combrus "barricade, obstacle," probably from Latin cumulus "heap." Meaning "hinder, hamper" is attested in English from late 14c. Related: Encumbered; encumbering.