empecher

Empecher in Old French means to hinder, to prevent, to impede, from Late Latin impedicare (to fetter, to entangle), from in- (in) + pedica (a shackle, a fetter), from pes, pedis (foot). The word originally meant to physically prevent someone from moving — to shackle their feet. The English legal meaning — to accuse a public official of misconduct — emerged in the fourteenth century. To impeach is to entangle someone in an accusation.

The English Parliament developed impeachment as a mechanism for holding the king's ministers accountable. The first recorded impeachment was of William Latimer, Baron Latimer, in 1376. Parliament could charge (impeach) and try officials whom the king would not dismiss. The word's etymology is precise: impeachment fetters the accused, preventing them from exercising power until the charge is resolved.

The United States Constitution (Article I, Sections 2 and 3) gives the House of Representatives the sole power of impeachment and the Senate the sole power to try impeachments. Three presidents have been impeached: Andrew Johnson (1868), Bill Clinton (1998), and Donald Trump (twice — 2019 and 2021). None were convicted and removed. Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 before impeachment proceedings concluded. The word 'impeach' enters common conversation during each event, and each time it must be explained that impeachment is the charge, not the verdict.

The popular confusion between impeachment and removal is embedded in the word's history. To impeach means to accuse, to charge, to bring a case. The Senate trial and conviction are separate. The Old French shackle has become a procedural step. The fettering of feet became the fettering of power — temporary, formal, and not yet a conviction.