Word.ws English Dictionary

encroached

encroached is the simple past and past participle of encroach.

Meaning of encroach

Verb

encroach (third-person singular simple present encroaches, present participle encroaching, simple past and past participle encroached)

  1. (obsolete, transitive) to seize, appropriate
  2. (intransitive) To intrude unrightfully on someone else’s rights or territory.
    • [D]rowſie drouping Age, / incroaching on apace, / With penſiue Plough will raze your hue / and Beauties beames deface.1567, George Turbervil[l]e, “The Louer Exhorteth His Ladie to Take Time, while Time is”, in Epitaphes, Epigrams, Songs and Sonets, with a Discourse of the Friendly Affections of Tymetes to Pyndara...
    Synonyms:
    infringe, poach
  3. (intransitive) To advance gradually beyond due limits.

See all 4 meanings of encroach

Words formed from encroached

Questions about encroached

What is encroached the simple past and past participle of?
Encroached is the simple past and past participle of encroach.

Words near encroached in the dictionary

  1. encrinurids
  2. encrinus
  3. encrisped
  4. encroach
  5. encroachable
  6. encroached
  7. encroacher
  8. encroachers
  9. encroaches
  10. encroachest
  11. encroacheth

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: encroached (page history and authors); encroach (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “encroached.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/encroached. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.