impeachment

Alternative forms

• empeachment (obsolete)

Etymology

From Old French empechement. See impeach +‎ -ment.

Noun

impeachment (countable and uncountable, plural impeachments)

1. The act of impeaching a public official, either elected or appointed, before a tribunal charged with determining the facts of the matter.
2. The state of being impeached.
3. A demonstration in a court of law, or before another finder of fact, that a witness was ingenuine before, and therefore, is less likely to tell the truth now.
4. (archaic) Hindrance; impediment; obstruction.
   • c. 1598, William Shakespeare, Henry V, Act III, Scene 6,

     […] tell thy king I do not seek him now; / But could be willing to march on to Calais, / Without impeachment:

   • 1737, Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, translated by William Whiston, Book 9, Chapter 8,

     Now Hazael, king of Syria, fought against the Israelites and their king Jehu, and spoiled the eastern parts of the country beyond Jordan […] and this without impeachment from Jehu, who made no haste to defend the country when it was under this distress

   • 1952, C. S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Collins, 1998, Chapter 12,

     " […] And here is as great an adventure as ever I heard of, and here, if we turn back, no little impeachment of all our honors."

Noun

impeachment m (plural impeachments)

1. impeachment