Dictionary

encroachment en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ɛŋˈkɹoʊt͡ʃmənt/
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ɪŋˈkɹoʊt͡ʃmənt/

Etymology

Etymology tree English encroach Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥ Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥tom Proto-Italic *-mentom Latin -mentum Old French -mentbor. Middle English -ment English -ment English encroachment From encroach + -ment.

Meanings

1. (uncountable, usually) An entry into a place or area that was previously uncommon; an advance beyond former borders; intrusion; incursion.
   • […] the largest extents of encroachments were found in the Dry Zone Districts, such as Anuradhapura, Kurunegala and Moneragala, where encroachable State lands were readily available (Table I). […] Between 1979-1985, some 104,490 new encroachments covering an extent of 70,646 Ha (174,566 acres) took place with high encroachments in the Central Province (40% increase over 1978). The Western Province comes second. This excludes […] 1990, Quest, numbers 105-106, Centre for Society and Religion, pages 56-57:
   • At the same time, the encroachment of vegetation proceeds apace, and broom and brambles have already made portions of the line impassable, even on foot. 1949 November and December, “Notes and News: Festiniog and Welsh Highland Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 408:
2. (uncountable, usually) An intrusion upon another's possessions or rights; infringement.
   • The Legislative department derives a superiority in our Governments from other circumstances. Its constitutional powers being at once more extensive, and less susceptible of precise limits, it can, with the greater facility, mask, under complicated and indirect measures, the encroachments which it makes on the coördinate departments. 1788, Publius [pseudonym; James Madison], “Number XXXXVII”, in The Federalist: A Collection of Essays, Written in Favour of the New Constitution, […] , volume II, New York, N.Y.: […] J. and A. M‘Lean, […], →OCLC:
   • Ah! my brother, we do well to watch our birthright jealously; the least invasion on the meanest peasant, the slightest encroachment of the powerful, are not matters to be neglected—such are the first steps of tyranny. 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter V, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, pages 53–54:
3. (uncountable, usually) That which is gained by such unlawful intrusion.
4. (uncountable, usually) An unlawful diminution of the possessions of another.

Forms

Deriveds

nonencroachment

Relateds

encroach

Translations (38)

es usurpación (unlawful diminution) · hi घुसपैठ (entry into a place or area that was previously uncommon) · hi अतिक्रमण (entry into a place or area that was previously uncommon) · hu jogsértés (unlawful diminution) · fi tunkeutuminen (intrusion upon another’s possessions or rights) · de Eindringen (entry into a place or area that was previously uncommon) · hu behatolás (entry into a place or area that was previously uncommon) · de Vordringen (entry into a place or area that was previously uncommon) · nl overschrijding (entry into a place or area that was previously uncommon) · uk вто́ргнення (entry into a place or area that was previously uncommon) · de Eindringung (entry into a place or area that was previously uncommon) · hu túlkapás (intrusion upon another’s possessions or rights) · sh zaposjedanje (entry into a place or area that was previously uncommon) · es intrusión (unlawful diminution) · pt transgressão (intrusion upon another’s possessions or rights) · hu térhódítás (entry into a place or area that was previously uncommon) · de Übergriff (intrusion upon another’s possessions or rights) · de Einbrechen (intrusion upon another’s possessions or rights) · uk посяга́ння (intrusion upon another’s possessions or rights) · hi अतिक्रमण (intrusion upon another’s possessions or rights) · nl afslijting (entry into a place or area that was previously uncommon) · ru вторже́ние (entry into a place or area that was previously uncommon) · hi उल्लंघन (unlawful diminution) · hu beavatkozás (intrusion upon another’s possessions or rights) · pt usurpação (entry into a place or area that was previously uncommon) · ru посяга́тельство (intrusion upon another’s possessions or rights) · hu betolakodás (intrusion upon another’s possessions or rights) · nl aantasting (entry into a place or area that was previously uncommon) · nl inbreuk (intrusion upon another’s possessions or rights) · hu jogsérelem (unlawful diminution) · fi tunkeutuminen (entry into a place or area that was previously uncommon) · nl aantasting (intrusion upon another’s possessions or rights) · de Einbruch (intrusion upon another’s possessions or rights) · pt violação (intrusion upon another’s possessions or rights) · de widerrechtliches Eindringen (intrusion upon another’s possessions or rights) · sh zadiranje (intrusion upon another’s possessions or rights) · de Vorrücken (entry into a place or area that was previously uncommon) · pt invasão (entry into a place or area that was previously uncommon)