What does trespassing mean?
Trespassing is the act of entering or remaining on land or property without the owner's permission. It can also refer more broadly to an improper intrusion into someone's privacy, time, or other protected sphere. As a gerund or present participle of trespass, it describes an activity: a person may be caught trespassing on private land, where the term can sound both legal and moral, emphasizing a boundary that the person has knowingly crossed. In law, unauthorized entry may be actionable as a civil trespass and, under some statutes or circumstances, may also be a criminal offense. Figurative uses generally carry a note of unwelcome intrusion rather than neutral access. The word is common in British and American English and is usually understood without formal legal training, making it useful wherever a speaker wants to identify an unauthorized crossing of a boundary. It is normally treated as an uncountable noun for the activity, although rare plural forms occur when separate incidents are being counted.
The act of entering or remaining on another's land or property without permission; more generally, an unwarranted intrusion into someone's privacy, rights, time, or attention.
"The report documented a series of repeated trespassings on the construction site."
The activity is usually expressed as an uncountable noun, though the plural trespassings is occasionally used for separate incidents.
To enter or remain on land or property without the owner's permission, or to intrude beyond one's legal or social rights.
"Several trespassers were removed when security found them climbing the perimeter fence."
This is the present participle of trespass and can function as a gerund, as in the phrase caught trespassing.
Rare. Trespassing is normally an uncountable noun, with “an act of trespassing” used when referring to a particular incident.
"Repeated trespassings at the depot led management to install stronger security."
A trespass can support a legal claim even when nobody was hurt and nothing was damaged: the unauthorized crossing itself can be the wrong.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does trespassing come from?
The word trespass entered Middle English through Anglo-French trespas, a term derived from Latin trans- (“across”) and passus (“stepped”), conveying the idea of stepping across a boundary. The form trespassing is the English present-participle and gerund formation added to the verb. Related words such as passage, bypass, and surpass share the same Latin root associated with passing or stepping.
Related word forms
How trespassing is actually used
The term commonly carries a negative or moral implication because it suggests knowingly crossing a boundary without authorization. Its precise legal consequences vary by jurisdiction; figurative uses usually emphasize unwelcome intrusion.
Easily confused with trespassing
Trespassing most often means unauthorized entry onto property, while transgressing means violating a law, moral principle, or other boundary more broadly.