impede

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin impediō (“to shackle”), from pēs (“foot”) (compare pedestrian). First attested use as a verb was in William Shakespeare's Macbeth.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪmˈpiːd/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːd

Verb

impede (third-person singular simple present impedes, present participle impeding, simple past and past participle impeded)

1. (transitive) To get in the way of; to hinder.

   impede someone's progress

   • 1992, Robert Jordan, “Chapter 31: Assurances”, in The Shadow Rising (The Wheel of Time; 4), London: Orbit Books, published 2021, →ISBN, page 501:

     “Everything had been ticking along like a fine clock, even with Bornhald impeding, until this new one appeared with his Gray Men. Ordeith scrubbed bony fingers through greasy hair. Why could not his dreams at least be his own?”

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:hinder

Antonyms

• assist, help
• expede (obsolete)
• expedite

Derived terms

• impedance
• impeder
• impedible
• unimpeded

Related terms

• expede, expedite
• impediment

English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *ped- (0 c, 66 e)

Translations

to get in the way of; to hinder

• Bulgarian: преча (bg) (preča), спирам (bg) (spiram), задържам (bg) (zadǎržam)
• Catalan: impedir (ca)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 阻住 (zo² zyu⁶)

  Mandarin: 阻礙 / 阻碍 (zh) (zǔ'ài)

• Czech: překážet (cs) impf, bránit (cs) impf, zabránit (cs) pf
• Dutch: belemmeren (nl), in de weg staan, beletten (nl), hinderen (nl)
• Finnish: haitata (fi)
• French: entraver (fr)
• Galician: impedir (gl)
• German: behindern (de), erschweren (de), hemmen (de), hindern (de), vereiteln (de)
• Gothic: 𐌼𐌰𐍂𐌶𐌾𐌰𐌽 (marzjan)
• Greek:

  Ancient: κωλύω (kōlúō), ἐγκόπτω (enkóptō)

• Hungarian: gátol (hu)
• Italian: impedire (it), ostacolare (it), intralciare (it)
• Latin: impediō
• Maori: rore, whakahōtaetae, taupare, kaiwaenga
• Norwegian: hindre (no)
• Persian: بازداشتن (fa) (bâzdâštan)
• Portuguese: impedir (pt)
• Romanian: împiedica (ro)
• Russian: меша́ть (ru) (mešátʹ), препя́тствовать (ru) (prepjátstvovatʹ)
• Spanish: impedir (es), empecer (es) (intransitive)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Woiwurrung: ^{(please verify)} toorrt-koo-dong-a din

Further reading

• Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “impede”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

• impeed

Galician

Verb

impede

1. (reintegrationist norm) inflection of impedir:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Portuguese

Verb

impede

1. inflection of impedir:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative