Daily Ancestorimpedimentum
Impedimentum is Latin for an impediment, a church-law obstacle to a marriage, such as close kinship or an existing spouse.
Impedimentum means hindrance or impediment. In marriage records it means something that, under canon law, made a marriage forbidden or invalid: close blood or in-law kinship, godparent ties, a previous vow, or a spouse still living.
Most entries use the stock phrase nulloque legitimo impedimento detecto, and with no lawful impediment found. When an impediment is named, look for a dispensation, which may describe how the couple were related.
As seen in a recordLatin marriage register, 1780s
nulloque legitimo detecto impedimento copulati sunt
Sources
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Daily Ancestor. "impedimentum." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/latin/impedimentum. Last checked 2026-10-10.