indictable

adj

Etymology: Etymology tree English indict Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlom Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlis Proto-Italic *-ðlis Latin -bilis Latin -ābilis Old French -ablebor. Middle English -able English -able English indictable From indict + -able.

1. Subjecting one to an indictment. (of an act)

   “Do not then charge men as too strict or precise, when they endeavour to abstain from idle thoughts and idle words, that they dare not give themselves that licence which others take, for these are indictable as well as great sins;”

   “Stoppage of streets, by coaches standing at places of entertainment, &c. &c. are public nusances, and indictable.”

2. Able or deserving to be indicted. (of a person)

   “[…] for Lords, Judges, and Justices of all sorts may, and too often do transgress the laws, as other men, and so of equals or Superiours, become subject to the justice of their associats in Commission […] being transfigured from Superiour Judges of the Law, to Inferiour Trespassers against it, Indictable by their Peers,”

   “1973, Raoul Berger, Impeachment: The Constitutional Problems, Harvard University Press, Appendix B, p. 307, In order to sustain his argument in the impeachment of Justice Samuel Chase, Luther Martin, his leading counsel, maintained that judges were indictable for violation of their official duties.”