To burden, obstruct, or encumber someone or something with unnecessary weight or complications; to get in the way.
From Old French 'encombrer' (to block up), possibly from Germanic roots. Entered Middle English as 'cumber', where it developed meanings of weighing down, cluttering, and impeding progress.
The word 'cumbersome' comes from this verb—originally it meant something that cumbers or weighs you down, like how a heavy suit of armor would cumber a knight trying to swim across a river.
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