What does cumber mean?
Cumber is a transitive verb meaning to burden, hinder, or weigh down a person or thing, often with something heavy, unwanted, or obstructive. One might say an heir was cumbered with debts, or that a field was cumbered with fallen stones. The word carries a connotation of needless weight or obstruction — whatever does the cumbersome act is usually something better removed than kept. Though once common in everyday English, cumber has largely been supplanted by its extended form encumber, and it now survives chiefly in literary, historical, and religious writing. Its noun form, cumbrance, appears mostly in older texts, including some translations of the Bible. The word traces back through Old French to Latin, sharing roots with 'cumbersome.' Knowing cumber enriches one's reading of classic literature and adds a compact, evocative alternative to more familiar verbs like burden or hamper.
To burden, hinder, or weigh down, especially with something unwanted, heavy, or obstructive; to clutter or fill up unnecessarily.
"The garden was cumbered with weeds after a season of neglect."
Chiefly literary or archaic in modern usage; 'encumber' is preferred in contemporary prose.
A hindrance, burden, or obstruction (now rare and chiefly archaic).
"The unproductive field was a cumber to the whole estate."
This noun sense is very rare today; 'cumbrance' and 'encumbrance' are the usual forms when needed.
The plural applies only to the rare noun sense of cumber as a hindrance or burden; it is seldom encountered outside older texts.
"The deed listed several cumbers against the property."
Before there was 'encumber,' there was simply cumber — a word so useful that English grew a longer version of it and let the original fade into literature.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cumber
Cumber entered Middle English from Old French 'combre' (or 'combrer'), which itself derives from Late Latin 'comborare,' related to Latin 'comminus' — ultimately connected to a root meaning to pile up or block. It has been part of English since medieval times, appearing in Chaucer's era, but over the centuries the fuller form 'encumber,' formed from it, became the dominant verb. Cognates include 'cumbersome' and the noun 'cumbrance'; the same French source also gave English 'comber' in the sense of drifting seaweed or wreckage, though that sense is obsolete.
Related word forms
How cumber is actually used
Cumber is today a literary and somewhat archaic word; in ordinary modern usage writers almost always choose 'encumber' instead. It survives in formal prose and historical writing, and its noun form 'cumbrance' appears mainly in older legal and biblical texts.
Easily confused with cumber
A cucumber is an edible green gourd-like vegetable, while cumber is a verb meaning to burden or hinder — the two words share no meaning despite the similar spelling.
Encumber is the standard modern verb for burdening or weighing down, whereas cumber is a shorter, now chiefly archaic variant of it.