c. 1400, from Old French empedement or directly from Latin impedimentum "hindrance," from impedire "impede," literally "to shackle the feet," from assimilated form of in- "into, in" (from PIE root *en "in") + pes (genitive pedis) "foot," from PIE root *ped- "foot." Related: Impedimental.

"traveling equipment," c. 1600, from Latin impedimenta "luggage, military baggage," literally "hindrances," on the notion of "that by which one is impeded;" plural of impedimentum "hindrance" (see impediment).

c. 1600, back-formation from impediment, or else from Latin impedire "impede, be in the way, hinder, detain," literally "to shackle the feet," from assimilated form of in- "into, in" (from PIE root *en "in") + pes (genitive pedis) "foot," from PIE root *ped- "foot." Related: Impeded; impedes; impeding; impedient.

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "foot."

It forms all or part of: antipodes; apodal; Arthropoda; babouche; biped; brachiopod; cap-a-pie; centipede; cephalopod; cheliped; chiropodist; expedite; expedition; foot; foosball; fetch (v.); fetter; fetlock; gastropod; hexapod; impair; impede; impediment; impeach; impeccable; isopod; millipede; octopus; Oedipus; ornithopod; pajamas; pawn (n.2) "lowly chess piece;" peccadillo; peccant; peccavi; pedal; pedestrian; pedicel; pedicle; pedicure; pedigree; pedology; pedometer; peduncle; pejoration; pejorative; peon; pessimism; petiole; pew; Piedmont; piepowder; pilot; pinniped; pioneer; platypus; podiatry; podium; polyp; pseudopod; quadruped; sesquipedalian; stapes; talipes; tetrapod; Theropoda; trapezium; trapezoid; tripod; trivet; vamp (n.1) "upper part of a shoe or boot;" velocipede.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit pad-, accusative padam "foot;" Avestan pad-; Greek pos, Attic pous, genitive podos; Latin pes, genitive pedis "foot;" Lithuanian padas "sole," pėda "footstep;" Old English fot, German Fuß, Gothic fotus "foot."

1520s, "in a smooth manner, blandly," from smooth (adj.) + -ly (2). Meaning "without impediment or complications" is from 1660s.

mid-15c., "deduction from payment," from stop (v.) + -age. From late 15c. as "impediment, hindrance, obstruction;" 1650s as "act of stopping."

c. 1300, "trouble, difficulty; ensnarement, temptation," from Old French encombrance "encumbrance, obstruction; calamity, trouble," from encombrer (see encumber). Meaning "that which encumbers, impediment, obstacle" is from late 14c. in English.

"be caught on an impediment," 1807, from snag (n.). Originally in American English, often in reference to steamboats caught on branches and stumps lodged in riverbeds. Of fabric, from 1967. The transitive meaning "to catch, steal, pick up" is U.S. colloquial, attested from 1895. Related: Snagged; snagging.

1570s, "stump of a tree, branch," of Scandinavian origin, compare Old Norse snagi "clothes peg," snaga "a kind of ax," snag-hyrndr "snag-cornered, with sharp points." The ground sense seems to be "a sharp protuberance." The meaning "sharp or jagged projection" is first recorded 1580s; especially "tree or branch in water and partly near the surface, so as to be dangerous to navigation" (1807). The figurative meaning "obstacle, impediment" is from 1829.

"supposed, reputed, commonly thought of or deemed," early 15c., from Late Latin putativus "supposed," from putat-, past-participle stem of Latin putare "to judge, suppose, believe, suspect," originally "to clean, trim, prune" (from PIE root *pau- (2) "to cut, strike, stamp"). At first especially in putative marriage, one which, though legally invalid due to an impediment, was contracted in good faith by at least one party. Related: Putatively.