Definition of: impediment

(im·ped′ə·mənt) noun
1. That which hinders or impedes; an obstruction.
2. An organic hindrance to easy speech; a stammer.
3. Law Anything that prevents the contraction of a valid marriage.
—absolute impediment Law A condition which makes it impossible for a person to contract a valid marriage.
—prohibitive impediment Law A condition under which persons who have contracted marriage are subject to punishment for having done so.
—relative impediment Law A state of facts which bars only people of a certain degree of consanguinity from contracting marriage with each other, as a brother with a sister. See also DIRIMENT IMPEDIMENT OF MARRIAGE. [<L impedimentum] Synonyms: bar, barrier, clog, difficulty, encumbrance, hindrance, obstacle, obstruction. Difficulty makes an undertaking not easy. That which rests upon one as a burden is an encumbrance. A hindrance (kindred with hind, behind) is anything that makes one come behind or short of his purpose. An impediment (literally, that which checks the foot) may be either what one finds in his way or what he carries with him; impedimenta was the Latin name for the baggage of a soldier or of an army. The tendency is to view an impediment as something constant or, at least for a time, continuous; as, an impediment in one's speech. A difficulty or a hindrance may be either within one or without; a speaker may find difficulty in expressing himself, or difficulty in holding the attention of restless children. An encumbrance is always what one carries with him; an obstacle or an obstruction is always without. To an infantryman the steepness of a mountain path is a difficulty, loose stones are impediments, a fence is an obstruction, a cliff or a boulder across the way is an obstacle, a bedroll is an encumbrance. Antonyms: advantage, aid, assistance, benefit, help, relief, succor.