Incumber

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To obstruct or weigh down someone or something with a burden that impedes progress or movement
2. To cause difficulty or delay by placing a heavy or restrictive load on an individual or object
3. To encumber by adding a physical or figurative load that interferes with ease or efficiency

Etymology: "Incumber" is an older spelling of "encumber," and the two words share the same history. The verb came into Middle English as "encombren," borrowed from Old French "encombrer," which meant "to hinder" or "to block the way." The Old French word was built from the prefix "en-," roughly "into" or "to make," and "combrer," a verb meaning to obstruct, to heap up, or to clutter. That second element is the same root behind "cumber," which English used for centuries in the sense of hampering or burdening someone. The original picture is a physical one: something lying across a path or piled in a room, making movement difficult. The sense of being weighed down heavily grew out of that image, so a person encumbered by debts or heavy cloth is effectively held back in the same way a traveller is held up by a fallen log.

Synonyms: burden, hinder

Antonyms: aid, assist