ˌkau̇n-tər-ˈmand
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In the military, one's mandate is to follow the commands (and sometimes the countermands) of the officers. Doing their bidding is not particularly commendable—it's simply mandatory. The Latin verb mandare, meaning "to entrust" or "to order," is the authority behind countermand. It's also behind the words mandate, command, demand, commend (which can mean "to entrust" as well as "to praise"), and mandatory. Countermand came to English via Anglo French, where the prefix cuntre- ("against") was combined with the verb mander ("to command"). It has been a part of English since the 1400s.
Examples of countermand in a Sentence
New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 6 June 2025
The concept of a deep state is valuable in its original context, the study of developing countries such as Egypt, Pakistan, and Turkey, where shadowy elites in the military and government ministries have been known to countermand or simply defy democratic directives.
—Jon D. Michaels, Foreign Affairs, 15 Aug. 2017
What remains will be countermanded at the next change in power, the countermander then adding his or her new round of decrees, and on and on.
—Chris Stirewalt, The Hill, 30 May 2025
The Manhattan court countermanded the intransigence of the court stenographers and directed the daily publication of the Trump transcripts on a court website.
—Nick Akerman, New York Daily News, 9 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for countermand
Cite this Entry
“Countermand.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/countermand. Accessed 5 Jul. 2025.
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