Language Matters | We are all familiar with impeachment, but what are the origins of the word?
- Former US president Donald Trump was impeached for a second time before leaving office
- The meaning of impeach has evolved from its first appearance in Middle English
The early, now obsolete, meaning of impeach was merely to impede or hinder. It first appeared in Middle English as empesche, entering via the Old French empechier, with origins in the Latin impedicāre “to catch or entangle”, comprising prefix im- (assimilated from in-) “in, into”, plus pedica “a shackle, fetter”, derived from pēs “foot” (also the root for words like pedestrian).
We see such use in reformer John Wycliffe’s late-14th century writings against misuse of the Church’s privileges: criminals who took refuge therein could remain all their life “and no man enpeche hym”. This meaning is found up to the end of the 17th century: English mathematician William Leybourn describes “a Ditch, of sufficient […] breadth, and depth, to impeach the Assaults of an Enemy”.
Around this time, “impeach” is used to not only mean to hinder in a physical sense, but also to hinder the well-being of someone, by affecting detrimentally or prejudicially. Writings from the mid-16th to late-17th centuries include impeaching someone’s honesty, virtue, or perfection.
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US House impeaches Trump for inciting deadly Capitol attack
It is tempting to imagine that its current meaning also developed later, an extension to suggest hindering someone from fulfilling their duties, affecting their character, or shackling them in prison. But in the late-14th century, “impeach” was already being used with the meaning in law and politics we are familiar with. This was the consequence of the word being inadvertently and incorrectly considered the representative of the medieval Latin impetĕre “to attack, accuse” (from which comes words like impetuous) – this helped drive this specific meaning, as well as reinforce this particular spelling.