To formally accuse a public official of serious wrongdoing, as the first step in removing them from office.
From Old French 'empechier' meaning 'to hinder, accuse', from Latin 'impedicare' meaning 'to entangle' (literally 'to put in fetters'). The sense shifted from physically trapping someone to legally trapping them with charges.
Impeach doesn’t mean ‘kick out’; it means ‘officially charge’. The original idea was to ‘entangle’ someone in accusations so they had to answer for them. Removal from office is only a possible result, not the meaning of the word itself.
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