impeach English · revision 1890

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɪmˈpiːt͡ʃ/ ''(UK)''; /ɪmˈpit͡ʃ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It comes from Middle English ''empechen'' “to hinder; to accuse”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|xno|empecher|t=to hinder, ensnare]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from Old French ''empeechier'',^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) [[der|la-lat|impedicare|t=to fetter, entangle]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from Latin ''in-'' and ''pedica'' “fetter, shackle”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from ''pēs'' “foot”.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) It is related to [[impede]] and [[foot]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To impede, hinder or prevent (c. 1380), a sense now obsolete.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The AHD notes that Middle English ''empechen'' meant such things as “to cause to get stuck fast” and “to hinder”.^(AHD) A legal sense, “to accuse, bring charges against”, which had already developed in Old French, is recorded from about 1380–84.^(OED 1989)^(AHD)^(Etymonline) By the mid-15th century it referred to a formal accusation of treason or other high crime by the House of Commons,^(Etymonline)^(AHD) and by the 1560s (1568) to accusing a public officer of misconduct in office.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) Etymonline suggests that the shift in sense may owe something to confusion with Latin ''impetere'' “to attack, accuse”.^(Etymonline) From 1590 the verb also meant to call something into question or discredit it.^(OED 1989) The United States borrowed the procedure from the British Parliament.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1380 – to hinder (obsolete); to accuse.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * mid-15th century – formal accusation by the Commons.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1568 – to accuse a public official of misconduct.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1590 – to call in question, to discredit.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To charge a public official with misconduct in office before a proper [[tribunal]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To bring an [[accusation]] against.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # To challenge the validity of or try to discredit, as the testimony of a [[witness]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To remove from office for misconduct.^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(obsolete)'' To hinder or impede.^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[impeacher]]

+ * [[impeachment]]

+ * [[impeachable]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[impede]]

+ * [[impediment]]

+ * [[pedal]]

+ * [[peach]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}