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.
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disloyalty, and following a hearing before the Atomic Energy Commission in 1954, Oppenheimer's security clearance was rescinded.—Kai Bird et al., Smithsonian, Aug. 2005But Maria convinced Leverich that she had the authority to rescind the executor's decision to appoint him as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 Eventually, the Navy rescinded its ban.—Randall Samborn, National Law Journal, 14 Jan. 1991
The navy rescinded its ban on women sailors.
The company later rescinded its offer.
Recent Examples on the WebBloomberg - Finance and consulting companies in the U.K. have rescinded job offers to international workers after the government raised the salary threshold for skilled worker visas to deter legal migration.—Paige McGlauflin, Fortune, 20 May 2024 Recommended Trust In this Spanish town, capitalism actually works for the workers
Now the new big ask among Ukrainian officials – including some who visited Capitol Hill recently – is permission from Washington and other Western allies to rescind these promises.—Anna Mulrine Grobe, The Christian Science Monitor, 20 May 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.
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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