Etymology

From Middle EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Middle English#IMPEACHMENTCategory:English terms derived from Middle English#IMPEACHMENT empechement (“hindrance, impediment, obstacle, obstruction; legal accusation or charge; act of calling into question or discrediting; challenge to a claim or right”),^[1] and thence either:

• from Middle EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Middle English#IMPEACHMENTCategory:English terms derived from Middle English#IMPEACHMENT empechen, empeschen, empesche, enpechen, impechen (“to cause to get stuck; of a ship: to run aground; to block, obstruct; to hinder, impede; to prevent; to interfere with, harm; to criticize, disparage; to bring charges against; to formally accuse of treason or another high crime”) (from Anglo-NormanCategory:English terms derived from Anglo-Norman#IMPEACHMENT empecher, Old FrenchCategory:English terms derived from Old French#IMPEACHMENT empechier, empeechier)^[2] + -ment (suffix forming action nouns, concrete nouns, and nouns indicating a result or a condition or state);^[3] or
• from Old FrenchCategory:English terms derived from Old French#IMPEACHMENT empechement, empeechement, empeschement (“obstacle”) (modern French empêchement (“impediment, obstacle”)),^[4] from empeechier (“to fetter; to hinder”), empescher (“to inhibit, prevent”) + -ment (suffix forming nouns from verbs).

The English word is analysable as impeach +‎ -mentCategory:English terms suffixed with -ment#IMPEACHMENT.

Old French empechier, empeechier and empescher (compare modern French empêcher) are derived from Late LatinCategory:English terms derived from Late Latin#IMPEACHMENT impedicāre (“to catch; to entangle”), present active infinitive of LatinCategory:English terms derived from Latin#IMPEACHMENT impedicō (“to entangle; to fetter”), from im- (variant of in-) + pedica (“fetter, shackle; snare, trap”) (from pēs (“foot”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-EuropeanCategory:English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European#IMPEACHMENT *ped- (“to step, walk; to fall, stumble”)) + -ō.^[5]

In senses 1.2 (“accusation that a person has committed a crime”) and 1.3 (“act of impeaching or charging a public official with misconduct”), the word has been used in place of LatinCategory:English terms derived from Latin#IMPEACHMENT impetere, the present active infinitive of impetō (“to assail, attack, rush upon”).^[4][5]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪmˈpiːt͡ʃ.mənt/Category:English 3-syllable words#IMPEACHMENTCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#IMPEACHMENT

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

  Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#IMPEACHMENT
• Hyphenation: im‧peach‧ment

Noun

impeachment (countable and uncountable, plural impeachments)Category:English lemmas#IMPEACHMENTCategory:English nouns#IMPEACHMENTCategory:English uncountable nouns#IMPEACHMENTCategory:English countable nouns#IMPEACHMENTCategory:English countable nouns#IMPEACHMENTCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Pages with entries#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Pages with 6 entries#IMPEACHMENT

1. (countableCategory:English countable nouns#IMPEACHMENT) The act of calling into question or challenging the accuracy or propriety of something.

   Synonyms: deprecation, depreciation, discrediting, disparagement

   • 1530 February, Stephen Gardiner, Edward Foxe, “XXXII. A Letter from Gardiner and Fox, about Their Proceedings at Cambridg. An Original.”, in Gilbert Burnet, The History of the Reformation of the Church of England, first part (Of the Progress Made in It during the Reign of K. Henry the VIII.), London: Printed by T. H. for Richard Chiswell, […], published 1679, →OCLC, book II (Of the Process of Divorce between King Henry and Queen Katharine, […]), page 85:

     […] Nevertheleſs there was no ſo much care, labour, ſtudy, and diligence employed on our Party, by them, our ſelf, and other, for attaining your Grace's Purpoſe, but there was as much done by others for the lett and empeachment of the ſame; […]

     Category:English terms with quotations#IMPEACHMENT

   • 1588, G[abriel] H[arvey], “The Fourth Letter. To the Same Favourable or Indifferent Reader.”, in J[ohn] P[ayne] C[ollier], editor, Fovre Letters, and Certaine Sonnets, […] (Miscellaneous Tracts Temp. Eliz. & Jac. I), [London]: [s.n.], published [1870], →OCLC, page 58:

     The leaſt may thinke upon Fabius Maximus, who with an honourable obſtinacy purſued the courſe of his owne platforme, notwithſtanding a thouſand empeachments; and although ſlowly, with much murmuring, yet effectually with more reputation, atchieved his politicke purpoſe: [...]

     Category:English terms with quotations#IMPEACHMENT

   • 1904, Robert Anderson, chapter III, in Pseudo-criticism: Or The Higher Criticism and Its Counterfeit, New York, N.Y.; Chicago, Ill.: Fleming H. Revell Company, →OCLC, page 33:

     My words are not to be misread as a veiled attack on their integrity or their honour. They are intended as a frank and open impeachment of their judgment. [...] In certain quarters, I doubt not, this impeachment and this protest will provoke a sneer.

     Category:English terms with quotations#IMPEACHMENT

   • 1952 September 15, C[live] S[taples] Lewis, “The Dark Island”, in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, London: Geoffrey Bles, →OCLC; republished New York, N.Y.: Collier Books, Macmillan Publishing Company, 1970, →ISBN, page 152:

     And here is as great an adventure as ever I heard of, and here, if we turn back, no little impeachment of all our honours.

     Category:English terms with quotations#IMPEACHMENT

   1. (countableCategory:English countable nouns#IMPEACHMENT, lawCategory:en:Law#IMPEACHMENT) A demonstration in a court of law, or before another finder of fact, that a witness was ingenuine before, and is therefore less likely to tell the truth now.
      • 1903 November 16, Francis T. Nicholls, Chief Justice, “Barras et al. v. Barras”, in T. H. Thorpe, editor, Louisiana Reports: Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of Louisiana at Term Beginning First Monday of November, 1903, volume III, St. Paul, Minn.: West Publishing Co., published 1904, →OCLC, column 299:

        It is sometimes intimated that testimony which is direct and positive cannot legally be rebutted and overturned by presumptions less high than those which are juris et de jure in the absence of impeachment of the credibility of the witnesses. We are not prepared to accept that proposition unqualifiedly.

        Category:English terms with quotations#IMPEACHMENT

   2. (countableCategory:English countable nouns#IMPEACHMENT, lawCategory:en:Law#IMPEACHMENT, BritishCategory:British English#IMPEACHMENT) An accusation that a person has committed a crime against the state, such as treason.
      • 1680 December 4, “The Fifth Day”, in The Tryal of William Viscount Stafford for High Treason, […], Dublin: Reprinted by Jos[eph] Ray, […], and are to be sold by S. Helsham, Joh. North, Jos[eph] Howes […], published 1681, →OCLC, page 243:

        He [William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford] is charged in the Articles of Impeachment with Contriving the Death of the King, and being at ſeveral Meetings and Conſults about the King's Death, and Hiring Perſons to kill the King; And are theſe no Overt Acts? [...] My Lords, another Exception that is taken, is, That there is no Indictment. I conceive that an Impeachment of the Houſe of Commons is more than an Indictment. And there cannot be any doubt of that, the Impeachment of the Houſe of Commons having always been received and proceeded on by your Lordships.

        Category:English terms with quotations#IMPEACHMENT

      • 1923, Georgette Heyer, “The Revenge”, in The Great Roxhythe, Boston, Mass.: Small, Maynard and Company, →OCLC, page 325:

        Backed by the Treasurer's bitterest enemies he brought charges against Danby. Impeachment followed. There was fresh uproar in the House.

        Category:English terms with quotations#IMPEACHMENT

   4. (countableCategory:English countable nouns#IMPEACHMENT, lawCategory:en:Law#IMPEACHMENT, chiefly USCategory:American English#IMPEACHMENT) The act of impeaching or charging a public official with misconduct, especially if serious, often with the aim of having the official dismissed from office.
      • 1774 May, “American Affairs”, in Sylvanus Urban [pseudonym; Edward Cave], editor, The Gentleman’s Magazine, and Historical Chronicle, volume XLIV, London: Printed […], for D[avid] Henry, and sold by F[rancis] Newbery, […], published January 1755, →OCLC, pages 236–237:

        The Boſton Gazette of March 7 contains articles of impeachment of high crimes and miſdemeanors againſt Peter Oliver, Eſq; Chief Juſtice of the Superior Court of Judicature, &c., over the Province of Maſſachuſets Bay, by the Houſe of Repreſentatives in General Court aſſembled, [...] [T]he Aſſembly perſiſted in their impeachment, which was carried, upon a diviſion, yeas 92, nays 8: [...]

        Category:English terms with quotations#IMPEACHMENT

      • 1788, Publius [pseudonym; Alexander Hamilton], “Number LXV. A Further View of the Constitution of the Senate, in Relation to Its Capacity as a Court for the Trial of Impeachments.”, in The Federalist: A Collection of Essays, Written in Favour of the New Constitution, […] , volume II, New York, N.Y.: […] J. and A. M‘Lean, […], →OCLC, page 211:

        The awful diſcretion, which a court of impeachments muſt neceſſarily have, to doom to honour or to infamy the moſt confidential and the moſt diſtinguiſhed characters of the community, forbids the commitment of the truſt to a ſmall number of perſons.

        Category:English terms with quotations#IMPEACHMENT

      • 1803, Alexander Addison; Thomas Lloyd, stenographer, The Trial of Alexander Addison, Esq. […], on an Impeachment by the House of Representatives, before the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. […], 2nd edition, Lancaster, Pa.: Printd by George Helmbold, junior, for Lloyd and Helmbold, jun., →OCLC, pages 103–104:

        The acts for which an officer may be impeached, are preciſely thoſe for which he may be indicted as an officer; miſdemeanors in office, offences or unlawful acts done with an evil intention in his official capacity. For ſuch only can he be convicted on an Impeachment. And no officer can be convicted on an Impeachment, unleſs, on the ſame charge, and on the ſame evidence, he ought to be convicted on an Indictment. The ground of both is an unlawful act with an evil intention. Impeachment is Indictment, in other form, adopted in England for great offenders, whoſe influence might defeat the justice of the ordinary tribunals, and retained in Pennſylvania, either from ſimilar motives, or from imitation.

        Category:English terms with quotations#IMPEACHMENT

      • 1853, John Bruce, editor, Letters and Papers of the Verney Family down to the End of the Year 1639. Printed from the Original MSS. in the Possession of Sir Harry Verney, Bart. (Publications (Camden Society); 56), London: Printed for the Camden Society, by John Bowyer Nichols and Sons, […], →OCLC, page 271:

        Another letter [...] is worthy of being remembered, not merely as expressing more clearly Edmund Verney's antipathy of a Scotish war, but also as indicating what were his expectations, and no doubt the general expectations, of the results of calling a parliament. The quashing of ship-money, the abolition of monopolies, and even the impeachments of [William] Laud and [Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of] Strafford, are here clearly foreseen.

        Category:English terms with quotations#IMPEACHMENT

      • 2010 April 8, Elizabeth B. Bazan, Anna C. Henning, “Summary”, in Impeachment: An Overview of Constitutional Provisions, Procedure, and Practice (CRS Report for Congress; 98-186), [Washington, D.C.]: Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, →OCLC:

        The impeachment process provides a mechanism for removal of the President, Vice President, and other federal civil officers found to have engaged in "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors." The Constitution places the responsibility and authority to determine whether to impeach and to draft articles of impeachment in the hands of the House of Representatives. A number of means have been used to trigger the House's investigation, but the ultimate decision in all instances as to whether impeachment is appropriate rests with the House. Should the House vote to impeach and vote articles of impeachment specifying the grounds upon which impeachment is based, the matter is then presented to the Senate for trial.

        Category:English terms with quotations#IMPEACHMENT

      • 2013, Leon Zamosc, “Popular Impeachments: Ecuador in Comparative Perspective”, in Mario Sznajder, Luis Roniger, Carlos A. Forment, editors, Shifting Frontiers of Citizenship: The Latin American Experience (International Comparative Social Studies; 29), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 265:

        In popular impeachments, the street protesters use disruption in order to apply the ultimate accountability sanction for a president: removal from power. [...] Popular impeachments have only happened under extraordinary circumstances. In the case of legal accountability: blatant corruption, abuses of power, or both, that seem to go unpunished. In the case of political accountability: economic meltdowns, major political crises, or both, with no signs of light at the end of the tunnel.

        Category:English terms with quotations#IMPEACHMENT

      • 2013 June 18, Simon Romero, “Protests Widen as Brazilians Chide Leaders”, in The New York Times‎, archived from the original on 11 August 2020, retrieved 21 June 2013:

        In Juazeiro do Norte, demonstrators cornered the mayor inside a bank for hours and called for his impeachment, while thousands of others protested teachers’ salaries.

        Category:English terms with quotations#IMPEACHMENT

      • 2019 November 22, Lauren Gambino, “'Absolute fearlessness': women take impeachment spotlight and speak truth as Trump fumes”, in The Guardian‎, archived from the original on 1 January 2020:

        Of those 12, four women came before the committee to share their crucial knowledge of the events that led to an impeachment inquiry threatening Trump’s presidency. […] There is even a gender gap in support for impeachment, with more American women than men in favor of the House inquiry – and Trump’s removal from office.

        Category:English terms with quotations#IMPEACHMENT

2. (uncountableCategory:English uncountable nouns#IMPEACHMENT) The state of being impeached.
   • 1918, Robert Southey, “The Siege of Zamora”, in William Patten, editor, Heroes and Heroines of Chivalry (The Junior Classics; IV), New York, N.Y.: P[eter] F[enelon] Collier & Son Corporation, →OCLC, pages 319–320:

     And Don Diego Ordoñez answered, [...] ye of Zamora have received Vellido and harbored him within your walls. [...] And for this I impeach the people of Zamora, the great as well as the little, and living and the dead. [...] Don Arias Gonzalo replied, [...] But know that you have been ill advised in making this impeachment, for the manner is, whosoever impeacheth a council must do battle with five, one after another, and if he conquer the five he shall be held a true man, but if either of the five conquer him, the council is held acquitted and he a liar.

     Category:English terms with quotations#IMPEACHMENT

3. (uncountableCategory:English uncountable nouns#IMPEACHMENT, archaicCategory:English terms with archaic senses#IMPEACHMENT) Hindrance; impediment; obstruction.
   • 1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene vi], page 81, column 2:

     Turne thee back, / And tell thy King, I doe not ſeeke him now, / But could be willing to march on to Callice, / Without impeachment: [...]

     Category:English terms with quotations#IMPEACHMENT

   • 1732, Flavius Josephus, translated by William Whiston, A Compleat Collection of the Genuine Works of Flavius Josephus Faithfully Translated from the Original Greek. […], London: Printed and sold by D. Henry, […], →OCLC; republished as chapter VIII, in The Genuine Works of Flavius Josephus; Translated […] Containing Six Books of the Antiquities of the Jews, volume II, New York, N.Y.: Printed for Evert Duyckinck, John Tiebout, and M. & W. Ward, 1810, →OCLC, book IX (Containing the Interval of 157 Years. [From the Death of Ahab to the Captivity of the Ten Tribes.]), paragraph 1, page 253:

     Now Hazael, king of Syria, fought against the Israelites, and their king Jehu, and spoiled the eastern parts of the country beyond Jordan, [...] and this without impeachment from Jehu, who made no haste to defend the country when it was under this distress: [...]

     Category:English terms with quotations#IMPEACHMENT

   • 1908, Joseph Jacob Muskett, “Hovell of Wyverstone”, in Suffolk Manorial Families, being the County Visitations and Other Pedigrees, Edited, with Extensive Additions, volume II, Exeter, Devon: William Pollard & Co. Ltd., […], →OCLC, page 58:

     Robert Hovell, Licence to Hunt Foxes, &c. 1231 [...] The King has granted to Robert Hovel that he and his heirs may have freely and without impeachment of the King's foresters and their ministers, through the whole forest bailywick of Essex, their dogs running for fox or hare and to chase and take the same, as is more fully contained in the King's charter to him thereupon made. And it is commanded Richerd de Munfichet that he permit the said Robert and his heirs to have without impeachment their dogs running though all the aforesaid forest for hare and fox and to chase and take the same as is aforesaid.

     Category:English terms with quotations#IMPEACHMENT

References

Further reading

• impeachment on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology

Borrowed from EnglishCategory:French terms borrowed from English#IMPEACHMENTCategory:French terms derived from English#IMPEACHMENT impeachment, originally to refer to the United States. Doublet of empêchementCategory:French doublets#IMPEACHMENT.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /im.pitʃ.mɛnt/Category:French 3-syllable words#IMPEACHMENTCategory:French terms with IPA pronunciation#IMPEACHMENT

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

  Category:French terms with audio pronunciation#IMPEACHMENT

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

  Category:French terms with audio pronunciation#IMPEACHMENT

Noun

impeachment m (plural impeachments)Category:French lemmas#IMPEACHMENTCategory:French nouns#IMPEACHMENTCategory:French countable nouns#IMPEACHMENTCategory:French entries with incorrect language header#IMPEACHMENTCategory:French masculine nouns#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Pages with entries#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Pages with 6 entries#IMPEACHMENT

1. (lawCategory:fr:Law#IMPEACHMENT) impeachment (act of impeaching or charging a public official with misconduct, in the United States and other countries)

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from EnglishCategory:Italian terms borrowed from English#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Italian unadapted borrowings from English#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Italian terms derived from English#IMPEACHMENT impeachment.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /imˈpit͡ʃ.ment/Category:Italian 3-syllable words#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Italian terms with IPA pronunciation#IMPEACHMENT
• Rhymes: -itʃmentCategory:Rhymes:Italian/itʃment#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Rhymes:Italian/itʃment/3 syllables#IMPEACHMENT

Noun

impeachment m (invariable)Category:Italian lemmas#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Italian nouns#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Italian countable nouns#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Italian indeclinable nouns#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Italian entries with incorrect language header#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Italian masculine nouns#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Pages with entries#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Pages with 6 entries#IMPEACHMENT

1. (lawCategory:it:Law#IMPEACHMENT) impeachment (act of impeaching a public official)

   Synonym: messa in stato di accusa

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from EnglishCategory:Polish terms borrowed from English#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Polish unadapted borrowings from English#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Polish terms derived from English#IMPEACHMENT impeachment, from Middle EnglishCategory:Polish terms derived from Middle English#IMPEACHMENT empechement.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /imˈpit͡ʂ.mɛnt/Category:Polish 3-syllable words#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Polish terms with IPA pronunciation#IMPEACHMENT

• Audio:

  (file)

  Category:Polish terms with audio pronunciation#IMPEACHMENT
• Rhymes: -it͡ʂmɛntCategory:Rhymes:Polish/it͡ʂmɛnt#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Rhymes:Polish/it͡ʂmɛnt/3 syllables#IMPEACHMENT
• Syllabification: im‧peach‧ment

Noun

impeachment m inanCategory:Polish lemmas#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Polish nouns#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Polish entries with incorrect language header#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Polish masculine nouns#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Polish inanimate nouns#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Pages with entries#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Pages with 6 entries#IMPEACHMENT

1. (lawCategory:pl:Law#IMPEACHMENT) impeachment (act of impeaching or charging a public official with misconduct)
2. (lawCategory:pl:Law#IMPEACHMENT) impeachment (state of being impeached)

Further reading

• impeachment in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• impeachment in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from EnglishCategory:Portuguese terms borrowed from English#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Portuguese unadapted borrowings from English#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Portuguese terms derived from English#IMPEACHMENT impeachment.

Pronunciation

Noun

impeachment m (plural impeachments)Category:Portuguese lemmas#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Portuguese nouns#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Portuguese countable nouns#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Portuguese entries with incorrect language header#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Portuguese masculine nouns#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Pages with entries#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Pages with 6 entries#IMPEACHMENT

1. (lawCategory:pt:Law#IMPEACHMENT, politicsCategory:pt:Politics#IMPEACHMENT) impeachment (the process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official)

   Synonym: impedimento

Further reading

• “impeachment”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Alternative forms

• impichmen
• impechmen

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from EnglishCategory:Spanish terms borrowed from English#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Spanish unadapted borrowings from English#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Spanish terms derived from English#IMPEACHMENT impeachment.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /imˈpit͡ʃment/ [ĩmˈpit͡ʃ.mẽn̪t̪]Category:Spanish 3-syllable words#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Spanish terms with IPA pronunciation#IMPEACHMENT
• Rhymes: -itʃmentCategory:Rhymes:Spanish/itʃment#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Rhymes:Spanish/itʃment/3 syllables#IMPEACHMENT

Noun

impeachment m (plural impeachments)Category:Spanish lemmas#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Spanish nouns#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Spanish countable nouns#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Spanish entries with incorrect language header#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Spanish masculine nouns#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Pages with entries#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Pages with 6 entries#IMPEACHMENT

1. impeachment (political trial) (especially in reference to the political systems of English-speaking countries)

   Synonyms: destitución, impugnación

   • 2000, El asesinato jurídico de Alan García (5 de abril de 1992), Centro de Estudios Enrique Tierno Galván:

     En consecuencia, el impeachment británico es en la práctica un verdadero proceso penal que se lleva dentro del Parlamento.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

     Category:Spanish terms with quotations#IMPEACHMENTCategory:Requests for translations of Spanish quotations#IMPEACHMENT

Further reading

• Diccionario de anglicismos del español estadounidense