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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 Eventually, the Navy rescinded its ban.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The navy rescinded its ban on women sailors.
The company later rescinded its offer.
Jose R. Gonzalez, The Arizona Republic, 1 Aug. 2024
Recently the University of Minnesota hired a scholar who accused Israel of genocide to direct its Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies before rescinding the offer amid backlash.
—Andrew Lapin, Sun Sentinel, 11 July 2024
Following last week’s debate, some of Biden’s top Hollywood donors threatened to rescind their financial support if the 46th president did not bow out of the race.
—Jack Dunn, Variety, 5 July 2024
Cities such as East Chicago and Gary, as well as regions like Monroe County, must rescind these policies before July 1 or risk facing legal action from Attorney General Todd Rokita.
—Nadia Scharf, The Courier-Journal, 1 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for rescind 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rescind.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near rescind
Cite this Entry
“Rescind.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rescind. Accessed 15 Aug. 2024.
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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