Other forms: impeached, impeaching
To impeach is to charge a holder of high office with serious wrongdoing. Impeach the president, moves to impeach, impeachment proceedings.
It is the charge and not the removal, which is the point most often missed: an American president can be impeached by the House and then acquitted by the Senate, and several have been. The Latin behind it means to fetter or hobble.
1verbimpeachTo charge a holder of high office with serious wrongdoing.
“Parliament voted to impeach the president for abusing his power.”
impeach is a charging.
Old French empeechier meant to hinder, from Latin impedicare, to fetter — in plus pedica, a shackle.
Latin
impedicō — to fetter
Old French
empeechier — to hinder
Anglo-Norman
empecher
Middle English
empechen
English, today
impeach
From Middle English empechen, borrowed from Anglo-Norman empecher, from Old French empeechier (“to hinder”), from Latin impedicō (“to fetter”). Cognate with French empêcher (“to prevent”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA