Impeach: The slang word 'peach' — meaning… | etymologist.ai
impeach
/ɪmˈpiːtʃ/·verb·c. 1384 CE in Middle English legal texts (Rolls of Parliament); Chaucer uses the form 'empechen' in the late 14th century.·Established
Origin
From PIE *ped- (foot) → Latin pedica (foot-fetter) → Late Latin impedicāre (to catch by the feet) → Old French empecher (to hinder) → Middle English empechen (to accuse). To impeach is literally to shackle: the image of a prisoner caught at the ankle, unable to walkfree.
Definition
To formally charge a public official with misconduct in office, from Late Latin impedicāre 'to entangle the feet', from pēs/pedis 'foot', tracingback to PIE *ped- 'foot'.
The Full Story
Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCEwell-attested
The word 'impeach' traces to PIE *ped- (foot), one of the most productive roots in the entire IE family. In Latin, *ped- yielded pēs (genitive pedis), which ramified extensively: pedica (a fetter fastened to the foot), impedīre (to shackle the feet, to hinder), and expedīre (to free the feet, to make ready). The compound impedicāre, formed from in- (into) + pedica (foot-trap), meant literally 'to entangle in a foot-snare.' This vivid image of ensnaring the feet passed into Vulgar Latin and then Old French as empeechier (to hinder, prevent
Did you know?
The slang word 'peach' — meaning to inform on someone, to snitch — is simply 'impeach' with its first syllable worn away. Thieves and criminals in 15th-century England clipped the legal term and kept the meaning: to accuse, to betray. The word that names the gravest constitutional procedure in American democracy and the word a pickpocket used for a turncoat are the same word, one formal and one street-worn.
. Key roots: *ped- (Proto-Indo-European: "foot — source of Latin pēs, Greek poús, Sanskrit pād, Old English fōt (→ foot via Grimm's Law *p→f)"), pedica (Latin: "a fetter, shackle, or snare fastened to the foot — the specific noun from which impedicāre was formed"), impedicāre (Late Latin: "to entangle in a foot-trap — in- (into) + pedica; direct ancestor of Old French empeechier").
pēs (pedis)(Latin (true cognate from PIE *ped- — foot → pedal, pedestrian))poús (podós)(Ancient Greek (true cognate from PIE *ped- — foot → podium, tripod, octopus))pād (पाद)(Sanskrit (true cognate from PIE *ped- — foot))foot(English (true cognate from PIE *ped- via Grimm's Law *p→f))empêcher(French (inherited from Late Latin impedicāre — to hinder))Fuß(German (true cognate from PIE *ped- via Grimm's Law))