cumber

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /ˈkʌmbɚ/ UK /ˈkʌmbə/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to hamper or burden; an obstruction or encumbrance

Heavy armor cumbered the knights as they crossed the marsh.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to hamper or burden; an... hamper burden encumber hinder impede obstruct

Opposites

aid ease relieve unburden

Word family

Derived forms cumbersomecumbrance

Related forms encumber encumbrance

Etymology

From Middle English cumbren ('to overwhelm, hinder'), probably a shortening of Old French encombrer ('to block up'), from combre ('barrier, obstruction'), of Gaulish origin.

encombrer Old French combre Old French

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# cumber

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈkʌmbɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈkʌmbə/

## Meanings
1. to hamper or burden; an obstruction or encumbrance

## Examples
- Heavy armor cumbered the knights as they crossed the marsh.

## Synonyms
- hamper
- burden
- encumber
- hinder
- impede
- obstruct

## Antonyms
- aid
- ease
- relieve
- unburden

## Derived Forms
- cumbersome
- cumbrance

## Related Forms
- encumber
- encumbrance

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: encombrer
- Root: combre

## Etymology
From Middle English cumbren ('to overwhelm, hinder'), probably a shortening of Old French encombrer ('to block up'), from combre ('barrier, obstruction'), of Gaulish origin.

## AI Etymology
Cumber comes from Middle English cumbren ('to overwhelm, hinder'), probably a shortening of Old French encombrer ('to block up'), from combre ('barrier, obstruction'), of Gaulish origin. The etymological trail includes Old French encombrer and Old French combre. As a verb, cumber means to hamper or burden; an obstruction or encumbrance. The same family is visible in derived forms such as cumbersome and cumbrance and related forms such as encumber and encumbrance. The wording should be read with that uncertainty intact: the proposed connection is plausible rather than absolute.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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