encombrer

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French encombrer, from Old French encombrer (“to hinder, burden, encumber”), from Early Medieval Latin incombrāre (“to hinder, inconvenience, burden”), from combrus (“barricade of felled trees”), possibly from Gaulish *komberū, from Proto-Celtic *kombereti (“to bring together”) (compare Old Irish conbeir (“brings together, bears”)), from *kom- +‎ *bereti (“to bear”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti (“to be carrying”). Alternatively from Latin cumulus (“heap, pile”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱewh₁- (“to swell”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁe/

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

encombrer

1. (transitive) to block off, to clutter, to clutter up, to congest
2. (transitive) to encumber, to burden
3. (transitive) to jam (e.g. a switchboard)

Conjugation

Conjugation of encombrer (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	encombrer
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	encombrant /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		encombré /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁe/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	encombre /ɑ̃.kɔ̃bʁ/	encombres /ɑ̃.kɔ̃bʁ/	encombre /ɑ̃.kɔ̃bʁ/	encombrons /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁɔ̃/	encombrez /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁe/	encombrent /ɑ̃.kɔ̃bʁ/
	imperfect	encombrais /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁɛ/	encombrais /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁɛ/	encombrait /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁɛ/	encombrions /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁi.jɔ̃/	encombriez /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁi.je/	encombraient /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁɛ/
	past historic2	encombrai /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁe/	encombras /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁa/	encombra /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁa/	encombrâmes /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁam/	encombrâtes /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁat/	encombrèrent /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁɛʁ/
	future	encombrerai /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁə.ʁe/	encombreras /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁə.ʁa/	encombrera /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁə.ʁa/	encombrerons /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁə.ʁɔ̃/	encombrerez /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁə.ʁe/	encombreront /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁə.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	encombrerais /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁə.ʁɛ/	encombrerais /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁə.ʁɛ/	encombrerait /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁə.ʁɛ/	encombrerions /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁə.ʁjɔ̃/	encombreriez /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁə.ʁje/	encombreraient /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁə.ʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	encombre /ɑ̃.kɔ̃bʁ/	encombres /ɑ̃.kɔ̃bʁ/	encombre /ɑ̃.kɔ̃bʁ/	encombrions /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁi.jɔ̃/	encombriez /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁi.je/	encombrent /ɑ̃.kɔ̃bʁ/
	imperfect2	encombrasse /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁas/	encombrasses /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁas/	encombrât /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁa/	encombrassions /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁa.sjɔ̃/	encombrassiez /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁa.sje/	encombrassent /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	encombre /ɑ̃.kɔ̃bʁ/	—	encombrons /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁɔ̃/	encombrez /ɑ̃.kɔ̃.bʁe/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms

• encombrant

Old French

Alternative forms

• ancumbrer
• encumbrer

Etymology

From combre, more at encombrer.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /enkumˈbɾeːɾ/

Verb

encombrer

1. to bother; to irritate; to annoy
2. to burden

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. In the present tense an extra supporting e is needed in the first-person singular indicative and throughout the singular subjunctive, and the third-person singular subjunctive ending -t is lost. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

    Conjugation of encombrer (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		encombrer			avoir encombré
gerund		en encombrant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		encombrant
past participle		encombré
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	encombre	encombres	encombre	encombrons	encombrez	encombrent
	imperfect	encombroie, encombreie, encombroe, encombreve	encombroies, encombreies, encombroes, encombreves	encombroit, encombreit, encombrot, encombreve	encombriiens, encombriens	encombriiez, encombriez	encombroient, encombreient, encombroent, encombrevent
	preterite	encombrai	encombras	encombra	encombrames	encombrastes	encombrerent
	future	encombrerai	encombreras	encombrera	encombrerons	encombreroiz, encombrereiz, encombrerez	encombreront
	conditional	encombreroie, encombrereie	encombreroies, encombrereies	encombreroit, encombrereit	encombreriiens, encombreriens	encombreriiez, encombreriez	encombreroient, encombrereient
compound tenses	present perfect	present tense of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect tense of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	preterite tense of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future tense of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional tense of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que jo	que tu	qu’il	que nos	que vos	qu’il
simple tenses	present	encombre	encombres	encombre	encombrons	encombrez	encombrent
	imperfect	encombrasse	encombrasses	encombrast	encombrissons, encombrissiens	encombrissoiz, encombrissez, encombrissiez	encombrassent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	encombre	—	encombrons	encombrez	—

Descendants

• French: encombrer
• → Middle English: encombren
  • English: encumber
• → Middle English: combren
  • English: cumber

References

• Etymology and history of “encombrer”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (encombrer)