Did you know?
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 Eventually, the Navy rescinded its ban.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The navy rescinded its ban on women sailors.
The company later rescinded its offer.
Caitlin Yilek, CBS News, 9 Jan. 2025
President Joe Biden won’t rescind his flag directive honoring the late President Jimmy Carter despite criticism raised by President-elect Donald Trump on Friday.
—Christian Datoc, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 3 Jan. 2025
Raises given to the county workers were being rescinded.
—Eplunus Colvin, arkansasonline.com, 3 Jan. 2025
Such evaluations could help agencies craft justifications to rescind legally problematic rules, consistent with APA requirements.
—Alden Abbott, Forbes, 3 Jan. 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 18 Jan. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
rescind
verb
Legal Definition
rescind
verb
Latin rescindere to cut loose, annul, from re- away, back + scindere to cut, split
Share