'impeachment' originates from Old French, specifically the word 'empechier', where the element 'em-' (from Latin in-/en-) meant 'in' or 'into' and the root 'pechier' (from Vulgar Latin *impedicare / Latin 'impedire') meant 'to entangle, hinder'.

'impeachment' changed from Old French 'empechier' and Middle English 'impechen' (meaning 'to hinder or accuse') and eventually developed into the modern English noun 'impeachment' (the formal charge or process).

Initially, it meant 'to entangle or hinder' (a general sense of obstructing); over time it evolved into the modern sense of 'a formal accusation or process to charge a public official with misconduct'.