Noun

(en noun)

(obsolete) stop; halt; hindrance

(Francis Bacon) "Nay, there is no stond or impediment in the wit but may be wrought out by fit studies; like as diseases of the body may have appropriate exercises." Francis Bacon, Of Studies, 1625

(obsolete) A stand; a post; a station.

(Spenser)

(Webster 1913) ----

Noun

(en noun)

A hindrance; that which impedes or hinders progress.

* Shakespeare

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

* {{quote-book

, year=1818 , author=Mary Shelley , title=Frankenstein , chapter=2 citation , passage=I had gazed upon the fortifications and impediments that seemed to keep human beings from entering the citadel of nature, and rashly and ignorantly I had repined.}}

Working in a noisy factory left him with a slight hearing impediment .

(chiefly, in the plural) Baggage, especially that of an army; impedimenta