encumber
verb
Did you know?
Encumber Has French Roots
“I can’t help you with your troubles / If you won’t help with mine,” the workingman protagonist tells his companion Melinda in “Cumberland Blues” (a song by Grateful Dead), encumbered by indecision over whether or not to keep his dead-end job. Does he stay or does he go? To be encumbered is to be held back, weighed down, overburdened. One can be encumbered physically (as by a heavy load or severe weather) or figuratively (as by, well, the blues). Encumber traces back to the Middle French noun combre, which referred to a dam or weir constructed in the bed of a river to hold back fish or protect the banks. The notion of stoppage or blockage embedded in combre led to the verb encombre (“to obstruct, burden”) and further downstream to not only the English verb encumber, but adjectives cumbersome and cumbrous, both used to describe things that can slow one down. (Note, however, that the place name Cumberland—referring originally to a former county of northwestern England and used in many U.S. and Canadian locales—comes not from combre, but rather the Latin designation Cumbria, in turn was influenced by the Welsh Cymry.)
Examples of encumber in a Sentence
Ascend Agency, Chicago Tribune, 12 Mar. 2026
It will be encumbered neither by norms nor the exigencies that compel speech in a democratic society.
—Casey Ryan Kelly, The Conversation, 9 Mar. 2026
The department is required to be paid fair market value for any land that is purchased, rented or encumbered, according to a September 2025 appraisal of the property.
—Jennifer Van Grove, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Feb. 2026
The action also authorizes the use of disaster emergency funds and allows the OEM to mobilize state resources, make contracts and awards using emergency procurement procedures and encumber and expend funds as determined by the director of the OEM.
—Alexandra Koch, FOXNews.com, 30 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for encumber
Cite this Entry
“Encumber.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/encumber. Accessed 14 Mar. 2026.
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encumber
verb
