countermand
/ˈkaʊntɚˌmænd/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.80 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
3
Syllables
10
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To revoke (a former command); to cancel or rescind by giving an order contrary to one previously given.
Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "Near-synonym: counteract"
- "to countermand an order for goods"
- "Three of the maids of honour ſent to countermand their birth-day cloaths; two of them burnt all their collections of novels and romances, and ſent to a bookſeller’s in Pall-mall to buy each of them a bible, and Taylor’s holy living and dying."
- "Early on, Ezra gives her a lesson to countermand the endless female impulse to apologise: “Darling, don’t continually say ‘I’m sorry’. Next time you feel like saying ‘I’m sorry’, instead say ‘Fuck you’.”"
- "Avicen countermands letting blood in choleric bodles."
- "For us to alter anything, is to lift ourselves against God; and, as it were, to countermand him."
Etymology
From Old French contremander, from Medieval Latin contramandō, from contra + mandō (“to order; to command”).
Origin
- Source language: Old French
Word Breakdown
- Root: contremander, contramandō
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈkaʊntɚˌmænd/
- British English: /ˌkaʊntəˈmɑːnd/