impeachment

UK/ɪmˈpiːt͡ʃ.mənt/US/ɪmˈpiːt͡ʃ.mənt/

nounB2+Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #10,172 of 15,258mostly written

Other forms: impeachments

Impeachment is a formal charge of misconduct against a high official. Face impeachment.

It is a charge rather than a conviction, which is what most reporting of it gets wrong. Impeachment is a political process using legal forms rather than a trial in a court.

Definitions of impeachment

1nounimpeachmentA formal charge of misconduct against a high official.B2+
“The impeachment took four months and changed nothing at all.”

impeachment is a charge.

Where it comes from

Old French empechement means a hindrance, from Latin impedicare, to catch by the foot.

Proto-Indo-European
*ped-
Middle English
empechement — hindrance, impediment, obstacle, obstruction; legal accusation or charge; act of calling into question or discrediting; challenge to a claim or right
English, today
impeachment

From Middle English empechement (“hindrance, impediment, obstacle, obstruction; legal accusation or charge; act of calling into question or discrediting; challenge to a claim or right”), and thence either:

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

impeachment in the wild

From 1990 to 2020, there were at least 272 impeachment charges against 132 different heads of state in 63 countries.
Impeachment
In the United States, for example, impeachment at the federal level is limited to those who may have committed "Treason, Bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors".
Impeachment
The House adopted two articles of impeachment against Clinton, with the specific charges against Clinton being lying under oath and obstruction of justice.
Impeachment of Bill Clinton
Clinton's impeachment came after a formal House inquiry, which had been launched on October 8, 1998.
Impeachment of Bill Clinton
In addition to Congress at the federal level, impeachment may occur at the state level if the state or commonwealth has provisions for it under its constitution.
Impeachment in the United States

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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