impede vs prevent

impede and prevent both are verbs.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
impede	No	No	Yes	No
prevent	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, prevent is a hypernym of impede; that is, prevent is a word with a broader meaning than impede:

impede: be a hindrance or obstacle to
prevent: stop (someone or something) from doing something or being in a certain state

Other hypernyms of impede include keep.

impede (verb)	prevent (verb)
block passage through	stop (someone or something) from doing something or being in a certain state
be a hindrance or obstacle to	keep from happening or arising; make impossible