Rescind and the lesser-known words exscind and prescind all come from the Latin verb scindere, which means “to split, cleave, separate.” 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 the withdrawal of an offer, award, or privilege, or with invalidation of a law or policy.
The enemies these efforts made for him concocted charges of disloyalty, and following a hearing before the Atomic Energy Commission in 1954, Oppenheimer's security clearance was rescinded.—Kai Bird et al., Smithsonian, Aug. 2005But Maria convinced Leverich that she had the authority to rescind the executor's decision to appoint him as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. 1994The 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 Eventually, the Navy rescinded its ban.—Randall Samborn, National Law Journal, 14 Jan. 1991
The navy rescinded its ban on women sailors.
The company later rescinded its offer.
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The grant was frozen then unfrozen, after the Office of Management and Budget issued then rescinded a memo freezing grants having to do with nongovernmental organizations, programs focused on diversity, equity and inclusion, and other issues.—Aaron Bolton, NPR, 7 July 2025 Soon after Trump took office, senior administration officials rescinded the policy, allowing agents to detain people, including family members, for civil immigration violations at courthouses.—Eduardo Cuevas, USA Today, 4 July 2025 Since March 2024, 75% of the city's firefighters resigned and then rescinded their resignations, city officials placed Fire Chief Brian Fels and the longest-serving cop, Lt. Frank Petrocelli, on administrative leave, and the city's former administrator resigned.—Aaron Valdez, The Enquirer, 2 July 2025 Hulu canceled production of a reality series about Combs and his family, and Howard University rescinded his honorary degree, returning his $1 million donation and ending a scholarship program in his name.—Mandy Taheri, MSNBC Newsweek, 2 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for rescind
Word History
Etymology
borrowed from Middle French & Latin; Middle French rescinder "to reduce, cut, cancel, break (a contract)," borrowed from Latin rescindere "to remove or lay bare by hewing and cutting, cut or tear open, cancel, annul," from re-re- + scindere "to split, cleave, separate" — more at shed entry 1
: to abrogate (a contract or transaction) by mutual agreement, judicial decree, or unilateral declaration because of fraud, mistake, duress, misrepresentation, illegality, a breach, or another sufficient ground with both parties restored to their positions before the contract was made compare cancel, terminate
3
: to make void by the same or by a superior authority
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