encroach

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English encrochen,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French encrochier (“to seize, fasten upon; to perch, hang up”),^[5][6][4][7] formed from en- (“in”) and croc (“hook”),^[5][6][8] which is from Old Norse krókr (“hook”),^[6][8][9] the source of crook.^[8][6] The Shorter Oxford and Hoad put the French verb crochier (“to crook”), itself from the noun, between the two.^[10][11] Etymonline glosses the compound literally as to catch with a hook.^[6] Dictionary.com adds the Anglo-French form Anglo-Norman encrocher,^[12] and Merriam-Webster Unabridged names Middle French.^[3] The Middle English Dictionary only compares acrochier (“to take hold, seize”),^[2] and Weekley thought the English word might instead come from the much commoner French accrocher with a change of prefix.^[13]

Earliest recorded meaning

To seize or take wrongfully: before 1400, in the alliterative Morte Arthure, with the line "encrochede all Cristyndome be craftes of armes".^[5][2] Barnhart and Etymonline begin with the milder sense "acquire, get", probably about 1380 or in the late 14th century,^[4][6] which the OED records about 1400 in Pearl.^[5]

Semantic evolution

As Ayto notes, the original use was transitive and meant wrongful seizure; the modern sense of intruding developed only in the 16th century.^[8] That shift is dated to 1528 by Merriam-Webster Unabridged,^[3] about 1534 by Barnhart^[4] and 1541 by the OED,^[5] which defines it as intruding on another's territory or rights, especially by gradual advances.^[5] Weekley notes that it was used especially of fencing in land, not necessarily to anyone's harm, and that encroachment and improvement occur side by side in that sense in a survey of 1570.^[13] From 1555 the verb was also used of going beyond natural or conventional limits,^[5] and the construction with on or upon became the usual one.^[13][3] Johnson (1755) kept the hook in view, defining it as putting "a hook into another man's possessions to draw them away", and added a second sense, advancing gradually and by stealth on what one has no right to.^[14] The Century Dictionary, quoted by Etymonline, says that the word often implies moving by stealth or by imperceptible degrees, as the ocean wears away the land.^[6] In law, the OED records a specific use in 1641.^[5]

Timeline

• before 1400 – to seize or acquire wrongfully (obsolete by 1606).^[5][2]
• c. 1400 – to obtain, gain, in Pearl (obsolete).^[5]
• 1469 – the derivative encroachment, probably first in this year, in the plural.^[4]
• 1541 – to intrude on the territory or rights of others, especially by gradual advances.^[5] Merriam-Webster Unabridged has 1528 and Barnhart about 1534.^[3][4]
• 1555 – to advance beyond natural or conventional limits.^[5]
• 1578 – transitive, to encroach upon.^[5]
• 1611 – noun, encroachment or gradual approach, in Speed's History of Great Britaine.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To intrude gradually or by stealth on the rights, land or property of another; to trespass: The new fence encroaches on their neighbour's garden.^[15][3][5]
2. To advance beyond the usual or proper limits: Rising water slowly encroached upon the village.^[15][3][12]
3. (obsolete, before 1400–1606) To seize or acquire wrongfully, especially land or property.^[5][2]

Noun

1. Encroachment; a gradual approach.^[3][5]

Word family

• encroacher
• encroachment
• unencroached

Related words

• crook
• crochet
• crocket
• croquet

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b c d Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
13. ^ a b c Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
14. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
15. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins