encroach.
to seize, appropriate
Meaning & usage
to seize, appropriate
To intrude unrightfully on someone else’s rights or territory.
I won’t encroach on your time any longer.
He never allows work to encroach upon his family life.
To advance gradually beyond due limits.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English encrochen, from Old French encrochier (“to seize”), from Old French en- + croc (“hook”), of Germanic origin. More at crook.
Encroachment.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English encrochen, from Old French encrochier (“to seize”), from Old French en- + croc (“hook”), of Germanic origin. More at crook.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.