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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.
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 Eventually, the Navy rescinded its ban.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The navy rescinded its ban on women sailors.
The company later rescinded its offer.
Evan Bush, NBC news, 18 Sep. 2025
Most immediately, Kennedy could rescind a pandemic-era declaration that has protected COVID-vaccine manufacturers from excessive liability.
—Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 18 Sep. 2025
Advertisement Petro appeared to seek conciliation with Trump with a June 23 letter that rescinded his accusations of Rubio leading a plot to overthrow him.
—Miranda Jeyaretnam, Time, 17 Sep. 2025
Most federal comment periods last 60 to 90 days versus the 21 days allotted to comment on rescinding the Roadless Rule.
—Brianna Randall, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rescind
Cite this Entry
“Rescind.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rescind. Accessed 19 Sep. 2025.
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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