Wordwyrt

encumber

/enˈkʌmbə/en-KUHM-bur
/ɛnˈkʌmbɚ/en-KUHM-bur

Meaningto cumber, incumber

Common meaning: burden or hinder

Journey through time

  1. Old Frenchencombrer‘to cumber, incumber’source
  2. Middle Englishmeaning shiftsto cumber, incumber → burdenencumbren‘burden’source
  3. Englishencumber‘burden or hinder’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Old French encombrer ‘to cumber, incumber’.

Roots

  • encombrer Old French “to cumber, incumber”

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