countermand

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To revoke (a former command); to cancel or rescind by giving an order contrary to one previously given.

   Near-synonym: counteract.

2. 2
   verb

   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’.”.

3. 3
   verb

   To prohibit (a course of action or behavior).

   Avicen countermands letting blood in choleric bodles.

4. 4
   verb

   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.

From Old French contremander, from Medieval Latin contramandō, from contra + mandō (“to order; to command”).

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