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encumbrance

UK/ɪnˈkʌm.bɹəns/US/ɪnˈkʌm.bɹəns/
nounC2Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #15,021 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: encumbrances

An encumbrance is something that weighs you down and gets in the way. Travel without encumbrance.

In law it is a claim against a property, such as a mortgage or a right of way. An encumbrance on a title must be declared before any sale.

Definitions of encumbrance

  1. 1nounencumbranceSomething that weighs you down and gets in the way.C2

    “The old lease was an encumbrance nobody had noticed for years.”

encumbrance is a burden.

Where it comes from

Old French encombrance comes from encombrer, to block up, from a root meaning an obstacle.

  1. Old French

    encombrance

  2. Middle English

    encombraunce

  3. English, today

    encumbrance

From Middle English encombraunce, from Old French encombrance, from encombrer.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

encumbrance in the wild

  • Clear title is the phrase used to state that the owner of real property owns it free and clear of encumbrances.

    Clear title

  • Lien is any sort of charge or encumbrance against an item of property that secures the payment of a debt.

    Lien (disambiguation)

  • Subordinate or limited real rights generally refer to encumbrances, rights of use and security interests.

    Ius in re

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.