Meanings
present singular third person infringes · participle present infringing · participle past infringed · past infringed · alternative archaic enfringe
- transitiveTo break or violate a treaty, a law, a right, etc.
Near-synonyms: flout, infract
2 more examples
The patent situation, too, played a part in this, as often a firm sought to produce something which would achieve a given result, and yet not infringe a patent held by another; or a railway engineer would think of a device of his own that would free him of obligation to some manufacturer.
1951, T. S. Lascelles, “British Railway Signalling Since 1925”, in Railway Magazine, number 600, page 226According to this saga of intellectual-property misanthropy, these creatures [patent trolls] roam the business world, buying up patents and then using them to demand extravagant payouts from companies they accuse of infringing them. Often, their victims pay up rather than face the costs of a legal battle.
2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 55 - intransitiveTo break in or encroach on something.
Near-synonym: impinge
2 more examples
infringing on my personal freedom
A well regulated Militia, being neceſsary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
1789, Second Amendment to the United States ConstitutionSynonyms: impinge
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo break in or encroach on something.
More synonyms by meaning
verbgo against, as of rules and laws
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinīnfringō, īnfringere“to break off, break, bruise, weaken, destroy”
- Englishinfringe
Borrowed from Latin īnfringō, īnfringere (“to break off, break, bruise, weaken, destroy”), from in (“in”) + frangere (“to break”).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian нарушавам
- нарушавам (narušavam)to break or violate a treaty, a law, a right etc.
Catalan infringir
- infringirto break or violate a treaty, a law, a right etc.
Dutch schenden
- schendento break or violate a treaty, a law, a right etc.
Esperanto kontraŭi, malobei
- kontraŭito break or violate a treaty, a law, a right etc.
- malobeito break or violate a treaty, a law, a right etc.
- malobservito break or violate a treaty, a law, a right etc.
Finnish rikkoa, loukata
- rikkoato break or violate a treaty, a law, a right etc.
- loukatato break or violate a treaty, a law, a right etc.
French enfreindre
- enfreindreto break or violate a treaty, a law, a right etc.
German verletzen, übertreten
- verletzento break or violate a treaty, a law, a right etc.
- übertretento break or violate a treaty, a law, a right etc.
- verstoßento break or violate a treaty, a law, a right etc.
Italian infrangere
- infrangereto break or violate a treaty, a law, a right etc.
Korean 위반(違反)하다, 침해(侵害)하다
- 위반(違反)하다 (wibanhada)to break or violate a treaty, a law, a right etc.
- 침해(侵害)하다 (chimhaehada)to break or violate a treaty, a law, a right etc.
- 어기다 (eogida)to break or violate a treaty, a law, a right etc.
Persian نقض کردن
- نقض کردن (naqz kardan)to break or violate a treaty, a law, a right etc.
Polish naruszać
- naruszaćto break or violate a treaty, a law, a right etc.
Portuguese infringir, transgredir
- infringirto break or violate a treaty, a law, a right etc.
- transgredirto break or violate a treaty, a law, a right etc.
Romanian încălca
- încălcato break or violate a treaty, a law, a right etc.
Russian нарушать
- нарушать (narušatʹ)to break or violate a treaty, a law, a right etc.
Spanish infringir
- infringirto break or violate a treaty, a law, a right etc.
Turkish ihlal etmek
- ihlal etmekto break or violate a treaty, a law, a right etc.
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with infringe
Anagrams
Cite this entry
infringe. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/infringe
“infringe.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/infringe. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “infringe,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/infringe.
Source: infringe on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.