Cumbrance

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A burden or obstacle that weighs down a person or thing and makes movement or progress difficult ; a legal claim or charge that hangs over a piece of property and limits its use
2. Something cumbersome that slows one down or gets in the way ; a lien or other liability attached to land or goods that restricts how they may be sold
3. An impediment or load that hampers action or progress ; an external claim, such as a mortgage or easement, that encumbers an estate

Etymology: "Cumbrance" is "cumber" with the suffix "-ance" attached. "Cumber" is an older English verb meaning to burden, encumber, or hinder, and its own roots are obscure, so the story here lies mainly in the suffix. "-ance" came into English from Old French and marks a noun formed from a verb, naming the act, state, or thing that the verb describes. Attached to "cumber", it yields a noun for a burden or hindrance, something that weighs a person down or gets in the way. The noun is the rarer relative of "encumbrance", which uses the prefix "en-" and has pushed "cumbrance" into near-disuse. Both words descend from the same verb, so "cumbrance" is essentially a shorter, older-sounding form of the more familiar term.

Synonyms: encumbrance, burden, hindrance, impediment, obstacle