impede

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin impedire (“to shackle”), from pes (“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.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:hinder

Antonyms

• assist, help
• expede (obsolete)
• expedite

Related terms

• expede, expedite
• impediment

▼ English terms derived from the PIE root *ped-‎ (0 c, 39 e)

  arthropod

  centipede

  cheliped

  expede

  expedience

  expediency

  expedient

  expedite

  expediter

  expedition

  fet

  fetch

  foot

  football

  impeachment

  impede

  impediment

  impedimenta

  millipede

  pawn

  pedal

  pedestal

  pedestrian

  pedicle

  pedicure

  pedigree

  pedometer

  peduncle

  pessimize

  pinniped

  -pod

  podiatrist

  podiatry

  podo-

  podology

  podopompholyx

  quadruped

  sesquipedal

  sesquipedalian

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 (zh), 阻碍 (zh) (zǔài)

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

• Greek:

  Ancient: κωλύω (kōlúō), ἐγκόπτω (enkóptō)

• Hungarian: gátol (hu)
• Maori: rore, whakahōtaetae, taupare
• Norwegian: hindre (no)
• Persian: بازداشتن‎ (fa)
• Portuguese: impedir (pt)
• Romanian: împiedica (ro)
• Russian: меша́ть (ru) (mešátʹ), препя́тствовать (ru) (prepjátstvovatʹ)
• Spanish: impedir (es)

Anagrams

• impeed

Further reading

• “impede” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2019.

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Portuguese

Verb

impede

1. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present indicative of impedir
2. second-person singular (tu, sometimes used with você) affirmative imperative of impedir