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impeach

 - 4 dictionary results

im⋅peach

  [im-peech]
Use impeach in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to accuse (a public official) before an appropriate tribunal of misconduct in office.
2. Chiefly Law. to challenge the credibility of: to impeach a witness.
3. to bring an accusation against.
4. to call in question; cast an imputation upon: to impeach a person's motives.
5. to call to account.
–noun
6. Obsolete. impeachment.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME empechen, enpeshen < AF empecher < LL impedicāre to fetter, trap, equiv. to L im- im- 1 + pedic(a) a fetter (deriv. of pēs foot ) + -ā- thematic vowel + -re inf. suffix

Related forms:
im⋅peach⋅er, noun

Synonyms:
4. question, challenge, impugn.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To impeach
im·peach   (ĭm-pēch')   
tr.v.   im·peached, im·peach·ing, im·peach·es

    1. To make an accusation against.

    2. To charge (a public official) with improper conduct in office before a proper tribunal.

  2. To challenge the validity of; try to discredit: impeach a witness's credibility.


[Middle English empechen, to impede, accuse, from Anglo-Norman empecher, from Late Latin impedicāre, to entangle : Latin in-, in; see in-2 + Latin pedica, fetter; see ped- in Indo-European roots.]
im·peach'er n., im·peach'ment n.
Word History: Nothing hobbles a President so much as impeachment, and there is an etymological as well as a procedural reason for this. The word impeach can be traced back through Anglo-Norman empecher to Late Latin impedicāre, "to catch, entangle," from Latin pedica, "fetter for the ankle, snare." Thus we find that Middle English empechen, the ancestor of our word, means such things as "to cause to get stuck fast," "hinder or impede," "interfere with," and "criticize unfavorably." A legal sense of empechen is first recorded in 1384. This sense, which had previously developed in Old French, was "to accuse, bring charges against."
Usage Note: When an irate citizen demands that a disfavored public official be impeached, the citizen clearly intends for the official to be removed from office. This popular use of impeach as a synonym of "throw out" (even if by due process) does not accord with the legal meaning of the word. As recent history has shown, when a public official is impeached, that is, formally accused of wrongdoing, this is only the start of what can be a lengthy process that may or may not lead to the official's removal from office. In strict usage, an official is impeached (accused), tried, and then convicted or acquitted. The vaguer use of impeach reflects disgruntled citizens' indifference to whether the official is forced from office by legal means or chooses to resign to avoid further disgrace.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

impeach 
c.1380, "to impede, hinder, prevent," from Anglo-Fr. empecher, from O.Fr. empeechier "hinder" (12c.), from L.L. impedicare "to fetter, catch, entangle," from L. in- "in" + pedica "shackle," from pes (gen. pedis) "foot." Sense of "accuse a public officer of misconduct" first recorded 1568, via confusion with L. impetere "attack, accuse."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: im·peach
Pronunciation: im-'pEch
Function: transitive verb
Etymology: Anglo-French empecher, from Old French empeechier to hinder, from Late Latin impedicare to fetter, from Latin in- + pedica fetter, from ped- pes foot
1 : to charge with a crime or misconduct; specifically : to charge (a public official) before a competent tribunal (as the U.S. Senate) with misconduct in office —see also Article I and Article II of the CONSTITUTION in the back matter
NOTE: Impeachment is the first step in removing an officer from office. The president, vice president, and other federal officers (as judges) may be impeached by the House of Representatives. (Members of Congress themselves are not removed by being impeached and tried, but rather are expelled by a two-thirds majority vote in the member's house.) The House draws up articles of impeachment that itemize the charges and their factual bases. The articles of impeachment, once approved by a simple majority of the House members, are then submitted to the Senate, thereby impeaching the officer. The Senate then holds a trial, at the conclusion of which each member votes for or against conviction on each article of impeachment. Two-thirds of the Senate members present must vote in favor of conviction. Once convicted, the officer can be removed from office. Although the Constitution specifies that an officer is to be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, impeachment can also occur for misconduct that is not necessarily criminal (as violation of the Constitution). Because impeachment is the first step taken to remove an officer from office impeach is often used in general contexts to refer to the removal itself, but that is not its specific legal meaning. An officer generally cannot be impeached for acts done prior to taking office.
2 : to cast doubt on: as a : to attack the validity of (a judgment or verdict) because of judicial or juror misconduct b : to challenge the credibility of (a witness) or the validity of (a witness's testimony) impeached on the ground of former conviction —W. Railroad LaFave and A. W. Scott, Junior> —see also impeachment evidence at EVIDENCE —compare REHABILITATE
NOTE: A witness may be impeached by character evidence or circumstantial evidence relating to the credibility of the witness, and esp. on the grounds of prior convictions, prior inconsistent statements, contradiction by other evidence, and the witness's reputation for truth, prior acts of misconduct, and partiality. —im·peach·able adjective —im·peach·ment noun
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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