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Rescind and the lesser-known words exscind and prescind all come from the Latin verb scindere, which means "to cut" or "to split." Rescind was adapted from its Latin predecessor rescindere in the 16th century, and prescind (from praescindere) and exscind (from exscindere) followed in the next century. Exscind means "to cut off" or "to excise," and prescind means "to withdraw one's attention," but of the three borrowings, only rescind established itself as a common English term. Today, rescind is most often heard in contexts having to do with someone rescinding a contract or an offer, or with a legislative body rescinding a law.
Synonyms
Examples of rescind in a Sentence
Kai Bird et al., Smithsonian, Aug. 2005
But Maria convinced Leverich that she had the authority to rescind the executor's decision to appoint him as biographer.
—John Lahr, New Yorker, 19 Dec. 1994
The Navy barred its personnel from his church, but he challenged the decree in federal court as a constitutional violation of freedom of religion. Eventually, the Navy rescinded its ban.
—Randall Samborn, National Law Journal, 14 Jan. 1991
The navy rescinded its ban on women sailors.
The company later rescinded its offer.
Richard Stengel, TIME, 15 Feb. 2025
Among other things, the president withdrew from the landmark Paris Agreement, rescinded 78 Biden-era executive actions and implemented a federal hiring freeze.
—Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 14 Feb. 2025
In the past four years, state hospital officials have proposed placing Wakefield at homes in Poway, Mount Helix and Borrego Springs, but each location was either rejected by a judge or later rescinded by state hospital officials.
—City News Service, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 Feb. 2025
The school system argues that rescinding the policy has caused schools to devote time and resources to teaching students and staff how to remain safe from immigration enforcement.
—Elizabeth Pritchett, Fox News, 13 Feb. 2025
See all Example Sentences for rescind 
Dictionary Entries Near rescind
Cite this Entry
“Rescind.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rescind. Accessed 20 Feb. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
rescind
verb
Legal Definition
rescind
verb
Latin rescindere to cut loose, annul, from re- away, back + scindere to cut, split
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