Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1300-1400
Language: Old French
Origin: encombrer, from combre 'something that prevents movement'

encumber

 verb
     
en‧cum‧ber [transitive usually passive]
formal to make it difficult for you to do something or for something to happen [= burden]:
He died in 1874, heavily encumbered by debt.
encumber with
The whole process was encumbered with bureaucracy.
—encumbrance noun [countable]
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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