Part 61

Infallibility and impeccability are two of his attributes.

Pope.

Im*pec"ca*ble (?), a. [L. impeccabilis; pref. im- not + peccare to err, to sin: cf. F. impeccable.] Not liable to sin; exempt from the possibility of doing wrong. -- n. One who is impeccable; esp., one of a sect of Gnostic heretics who asserted their sinlessness.

God is infallible, impeccable, and absolutely perfect.

P. Skelton.

Im*pec"can*cy (?), n. Sinlessness. Bp. Hall.

Im*pec"cant (?), a. Sinless; impeccable. Byron.

Im`pe*cu`ni*os"i*ty (?), n. The state of being impecunious. Thackeray. Sir W. Scott.

Im"pe*cu"ni*ous (?), a. [L. im- not + pecunia money: cf. F. impécunieux.] Not having money; habitually without money; poor.

An impecunious creature.

B. Jonson.

Im*pede" (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Impeded; p. pr. & vb. n. Impeding.] [L. impedire, lit., to entangle the feet; pref. im- in + pes, pedis, foot. See Foot, and cf. Impeach.] To hinder; to stop in progress; to obstruct; as, to impede the advance of troops.

Whatever hinders or impedes The action of the nobler will.

Logfellow.

Im*ped"i*ble (?), a. Capable of being impeded or hindered. [R.] Jer. Taylor.

Im*ped"i*ment (?), n. [L. impedimentum: cf. F. impediment.] That which impedes or hinders progress, motion, activity, or effect.

Thus far into the bowels of the land Have we marched on without impediment.

Shak.

Impediment in speech, a defect which prevents distinct utterance.

Syn. -- Hindrance; obstruction; obstacle; difficulty; incumbrance. -- Impediment, Obstacle, Difficulty, Hindrance. An impediment literally strikes against our feet, checking our progress, and we remove it. An obstacle rises before us in our path, and we surmount or remove it. A difficulty sets before us something hard to be done, and we encounter it and overcome it. A hindrance holds us back for a time, but we break away from it.

The eloquence of Demosthenes was to Philip of Macedon, a difficulty to be met with his best resources, an obstacle to his own ambition, and an impediment in his political career.

C. J. Smith.

Im*ped"i*ment, v. t. To impede. [R.] Bp. Reynolds.

Im*ped`i*men"tal (?), a. Of the nature of an impediment; hindering; obstructing; impeditive.

Things so impedimental to success.

G. H. Lewes.

Im"pe*dite (?), a. [L. impeditus, p. p. See Impede.] Hindered; obstructed. [R.] Jer. Taylor.

Im"pe*dite, v. t. To impede. [Obs.] Boyle.