infringe
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
-
(tr) to violate or break (a law, an agreement, etc)
-
(intr; foll by on or upon) to encroach or trespass
Synonym Usage
See trespass.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
have infringedperfect
-
has infringedperfect 3rd person singular
-
are infringingprogressive
-
has been infringingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
-
is infringingprogressive 3rd person singular
-
have been infringingperfect progressive
-
infringessingular 3rd person
-
infringingparticiple
-
am infringingprogressive 1st person singular
Past
-
had infringedperfect
-
was infringingprogressive singular
-
infringedparticiple
-
were infringingprogressive plural
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infringedsimple
-
had been infringingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of infringe
First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin infringere “to break, weaken,” equivalent to in- in- 2 + -fringere, combining form of frangere “to break”; akin to break
Explanation
When you infringe on someone's space, time, or rights, you're getting involved in a way that is not cool. That's why, when you violate a copyright, you're said to infringe upon it. Infringe is almost always used with the prepositions "on" or "upon," as in, "if you infringe on my rights, I'll sue you." Nobody knows why that's the case. Our language is full of rules and traditions that just are the way they are. We call these phrases "idiomatic." To infringe "on" or "upon" something is one of those. You don't infringe "into" someone's conversation. You infringe "upon" it. Case closed.
Vocabulary lists containing infringe
The Bill of Rights
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List 6
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Vocabulary from The Articles of Confederation
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Definitions 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.
