countermand
nounEtymology From Old French contremander, from Medieval Latin contramandō, from contra + mandō (“to order; to command”).
1
An order to the contrary of a previous one.
countermand
verbUK /ˌkaʊntəˈmɑːnd/ · US /ˈkaʊntɚˌmænd/
Etymology From Old French contremander, from Medieval Latin contramandō, from contra + mandō (“to order; to command”).
7 senses
- 1To revoke (a former command); to cancel or rescind by…
- 2To recall a person or unit with such an order.
- 3To cancel an order for (some specified goods).
- 4To counteract, to act against, to frustrate.
- 5To prohibit (a course of action or behavior).
- 6To oppose or revoke the command of (someone).
- 7To maintain control of, to keep under command.
1
To revoke (a former command); to cancel or rescind by giving an order contrary to one previously given.
- Near-synonym: counteract
- to countermand an order for goods
2
To recall a person or unit with such an order.
3
To cancel an order for (some specified 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.1727, Jonathan Swift, A True and Faithful Narrative of What Passed in London:
4
Figuratively To counteract, to act against, to frustrate.
- 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’.”2018 February 28, Justine Jordan, “Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday review – a dizzying debut”, in The Guardian:
5
Obsolete To prohibit (a course of action or behavior).
- Avicen countermands letting blood in choleric bodles.1672, Gideon Harvey, Morbus Anglicus, Or, The Anatomy of Consumptions:
6
Obsolete To oppose or revoke the command of (someone).
- For us to alter anything, is to lift ourselves against God; and, as it were, to countermand him.[1594], Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Iohn Windet, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page):
7
Obsolete To maintain control of, to keep under command.
- Two thousand horſe ſhal forrage vp and downe, That no reliefe or ſuccour come by land. And all the ſea my Gallies countermaund.c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene i:
- Derived terms
- countermandable, countermander, countermandment, uncountermanded
- Related terms
- counterargue