Impede

How to spell impede

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce impede

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does impede mean?

1. verbTo delay, obstruct, or get in the way of progress or movement.

Impede in a sentence

• Roadworks on the motorway will impede the morning commute.

• A lack of funding can seriously impede scientific research.

Where does impede come from?

Language of origin: Latin

Impede comes from the Latin verb impedire, which meant literally 'to entangle or shackle the feet'. It was built from the prefix in- (here meaning 'on' or 'into') and the noun pes, pedis, meaning 'foot', so the original picture is of someone whose feet are caught in a snare and cannot move freely. Over time the sense broadened from physical entanglement to any kind of hindrance or obstruction. English borrowed the word in the late 1500s, taking it from Latin (with some help from French forms), and it has kept that core idea of getting in the way ever since. The very same pes, pedis root appears in 'pedal', 'pedestrian', and 'pedestal', and it is exactly the opposite of the word 'expedite', whose Latin source meant 'to free the feet'. Remembering the hidden 'foot' in the middle helps fix the single 'ped' spelling in place.

How the word is built

• im- (in, on, variant of in- before p)
• ped (from Latin pes, pedis: foot)
• -e