incursion

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/ɪŋˈkɜː(ɹ)ʒən//ɪŋˈkɜː(ɹ)ʃən/

noun

A military action consisting of armed forces of one geopolitical entity entering territory controlled by another such entity, generally with the objective of destruction, plunder, or bodily harm rather than an intent to conquer territory or alter the established government; contrast invasion in its narrow sense.

UncommonScrabble 11

Meanings

nounincursion (plural incursions)

plural incursions

  1. A military action consisting of armed forces of one geopolitical entity entering territory controlled by another such entity, generally with the objective of destruction, plunder, or bodily harm rather than an intent to conquer territory or alter the established government; contrast invasion in its narrow sense.
  2. An aggressive movement into somewhere; an invasion in the general sense.

    Fascinating though the journey is to the traveller, for many years this section of the line was a source of considerable anxiety to the maintenance engineers, and on more than one occasion landslips and incursions of the sea resulted in the railway being closed for several days.

    1947 January and February, H. A. Vallance, “The Sea Wall at Dawlish”, in Railway Magazine, page 18
  3. AustraliaA function hosted within an educational institution, especially by or for students, for recreation, research, education or a display of works.

Synonyms & antonyms

function

Opposite

nounan attack that penetrates into enemy territory

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinincursiō
  2. Englishincursion

From Middle English, borrowed from Old French, from Latin incursiō.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek εἰσβολή
  • εἰσβολή (eisbolḗ)aggressive movement
Arabic توغل
  • توغلaggressive movement
Bulgarian нашествие, нахлуване
  • нашествие (našestvie)aggressive movement
  • нахлуване (nahluvane)aggressive movement
  • набег (nabeg)aggressive movement
Czech vpád, vtrhnutí
  • vpádaggressive movement
  • vtrhnutíaggressive movement
Danish indtrængen
  • indtrængenaggressive movement
Finnish tunkeutuminen
  • tunkeutuminenaggressive movement
French incursion, invasion
  • incursionaggressive movement
  • invasionaggressive movement
German Einfall, Eindringen
  • Einfallaggressive movement
  • Eindringenaggressive movement
Hindi घुसपैठ
  • घुसपैठ (ghuspaiṭh)aggressive movement
Irish ruathar
  • ruatharaggressive movement
Korean 침입
  • 침입 (chimip)aggressive movement
Latin incursiō
  • incursiōaggressive movement
Russian вторже́ние, наше́ствие
  • вторже́ние (vtoržénije)aggressive movement
  • наше́ствие (našéstvije)aggressive movement
  • набе́г (nabég)aggressive movement
Spanish incursión
  • incursiónaggressive movement
Ukrainian вто́ргнення, набіг
  • вто́ргнення (vtórhnennja)aggressive movement
  • набіг (nabih)aggressive movement
  • наліт (nalit)aggressive movement
  • напад (napad)aggressive movement

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with incursion

All rhymes →

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

incursion. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/incursion

MLA

“incursion.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/incursion. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “incursion,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/incursion.

Source: incursion on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.