cumbrous

English

WOTD – 10 January 2023

Etymology

From Late Middle English combrous (“causing obstruction; clumsy; obstructed; bothersome, difficult; burdensome, onerous; serious; causing trouble, troublesome; dangerous; immoral; unjust, wrongful; upset”) [and other forms],[1] from komber, kumbre (“distress; destruction”) + -ous (suffix forming adjectives).[2] The English word is analysable as cumber +‎ -ous.[3]

Pronunciation

Adjective

cumbrous (comparative more cumbrous, superlative most cumbrous) (literary)

  1. (also figuratively) Unwieldy because of size or weight; cumbersome.
    Synonym: (obsolete) encumbrous
    Antonym: uncumbrous
    • 1727, Jonathan Swift, “Desire and Possession”, in Thomas Sheridan, John Nichols, editors, The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, […], new edition, volume VII, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1801, →OCLC, page 370:
      Possession's load was grown so great, / He sunk beneath the cumbrous weight: […]
    • 1751 December 14 (Gregorian calendar), Samuel Johnson, “No. 179. Tuesday, December 3. 1751.”, in The Rambler, volume VII, Edinburgh: […] Sands, Murray, and Cochran; sold by W. Gordon, C. Wright, J. Yair, […], published 1752, →OCLC, page 149:
      He therefore came to a ſudden reolution of throvving off thoſe cumbrous ornaments of learning, vvhich, as he imagined, hindered his reception; and vvith no other images than arcs and angles, commenced a man of vvit and jocularity.
    • 1813, Walter Scott, “Notes to Canto Fifth”, in Rokeby; a Poem, Edinburgh: […] [F]or John Ballantyne and Co. […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown; by James Ballantyne and Co., […], →OCLC, note X, page ciii:
      The rest of the furniture is in a suitable style, particularly an arm-chair of cumbrous workmanship, constructed of wood, curiously turned, with a high back and triangular seat, said to have been used by Judge Popham in the reign of Elizabeth.
    • 1840, Thomas De Quincey, “Style”, in Critical Suggestions on Style and Rhetoric with German Tales and Other Narrative Papers (De Quincey’s Works; XI), London: James Hogg & Sons, published 1859, →OCLC, part I, page 183:
      [W]e, upon a large experience in the French literature, affirm that it would be nearly impossible (perhaps strictly so) to cite an instance of that cumbrous and unwieldy style which disfigures English composition so extensively.
    • 1890 August 23, “Weekly notes”, in The American‎[1], volume 524, Robert Ellison, page 370:
      A correspondent of The American has taken exception to the use, in a recent paragraph in this column, of the word “electrocution.” The writer of the paragraph referred to is conscious that the word, like other etymological hybrids, lacks euphony and consistency; but during the formative period succeeding the introduction of a new idea not yet provided with a verbal exponent, the safest course is to follow general popular usage. The idea must be expressed, and the choice lies between a cumbrous word and a cumbrous sentence, the former of which seems the lesser evil. “Electrocution” has been widely used, even by scientific men, while the only plausible alternative thus far suggested—“electrothany”—though possessing the merit of unmixed ancestry, is inadequate in that it carries no penal signification.
    • 1946, Bertrand Russell, “The Rise of Greek Civilization”, in History of Western Philosophy […], London: George Allen and Unwin, →OCLC, book 1 (Ancient Philosophy), part 1 (The Pre-Socratics), page 22:
      In each country writing began with pictures of the objects intended. […] In the course of thousands of years, this cumbrous system developed into alphabetic writing.
    • 1961 November, “The Development of ‘P.R.S.’ on the French Railways”, in Trains Illustrated, London: Ian Allan Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 664:
      This class of apparatus, often called today the "poste classique", gave first-class service in every respect but became cumbrous if a large layout had to be controlled.
    • 1966, Frances A[melia] Yates, “The Art of Memory in Greece: Memory and the Soul”, in The Art of Memory, London: Pimlico, published 2007, →ISBN, page 41:
      Evidently the imagines agentes, fantastically gesticulating from their places and arousing memory by their emotional appeal, seemed to him as cumbrous and useless for practical mnemonic purposes as they do to us.
  2. (obsolete)
    1. Causing hindrance or obstruction.
      Synonym: cumbersome
      • 1659, T[itus] Livius [i.e., Livy], “[Book XXI]”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Romane Historie […], London: […] W. Hunt, for George Sawbridge, […], →OCLC, page 329:
        But aftervvards, the Gauls ceaſed to moleſt and trouble, and the Romans gave over to fear, ſo ſoon as they vvere paſſed, and eſcaped the rough, cumbrous, and unpaſſable forreſts.
    2. Giving annoyance or trouble; troublesome, vexatious.
      Synonyms: cumbersome, wearisome
      • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 23, page 9:
        A cloud of cumbrous gnattes doe him moleſt, / All ſtriuing to infixe their feeble ſtinges, / That from their noyance he no vvhere can reſt, / But vvith his clovvniſh hands their tender vvings, / He bruſheth oft, and oft doth mar their murmurings.
      • 1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 544–548:
        Henceforth I flie not Death, nor would prolong / Life much, bent rather now I may be quit / Faireſt and eaſieſt of this combrous charge, / Which I muſt keep till my appointed day / Of rendring up.

Alternative forms

Derived terms

Translations

References

  1. ^ “cǒmbrǒus, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ^ “-ǒus, suf.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  3. ^ “cumbrous, adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2022; “cumbrous, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
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