An archaic or dialectal term meaning to impeach or accuse someone formally of wrongdoing, particularly in legal contexts.
From Old French 'apecher,' combining 'a-' (to) and 'pecher' (to accuse or hinder), derived from Latin 'peccate' (to sin or stumble). This word relates etymologically to both 'impeach' and 'impede.'
Medieval English had both 'appeach' and 'impeach' floating around doing similar jobs—they're linguistic cousins that diverged in pronunciation and spelling. Eventually 'impeach' won out because it sounded more authoritative and official.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.