empêchement

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French empeschement. Morphologically, from empêcher (“to impede”) +‎ -ment.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑ̃.pɛʃ.mɑ̃/

Noun

empêchement m (plural empêchements)

1. impediment, hold-up, hitch

   avoir un empêchement ― to hit a snag, to get held up

See also

• contretemps

Further reading

• “empêchement”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.