encroachment

noun encroachments · incroachment

1. uncountable, usually An entry into a place or area that was previously uncommon; an advance beyond former borders; intrusion; incursion. At the same time, the encroachment of vegetation proceeds apace, and broom and brambles have already made portions of the line impassable, even on foot.
2. uncountable, usually An intrusion upon another's possessions or rights; infringement. The Legislative department derives a superiority in our Governments from other circumstances. Its constitutional powers being at once more extensive, and less susceptible of precise limits, it can, with the greater facility, mask, under complicated and indirect measures, the encroachments which it m
3. uncountable, usually That which is gained by such unlawful intrusion.
4. uncountable, usually An unlawful diminution of the possessions of another.