countermand Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a contrary command cancelling or reversing a previous command
  2. verb cancel officially
    annul; revoke; reverse; lift; vacate; overturn; repeal; rescind.
    • He revoked the ban on smoking
    • lift an embargo
    • vacate a death sentence

WordNet

Coun`ter*mand" transitive verb
Etymology
F. contremander; contre (L. contra) + mander to command, fr. L. mandare. Cf. Mandate.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Countermanded; present participle & verbal noun Countermanding
Definitions
  1. To revoke (a former command); to cancel or rescind by giving an order contrary to one previously given; as, to countermand an order for goods.
  2. To prohibit; to forbid. Obs.
    Avicen countermands letting blood in choleric bodles. Harvey.
  3. To oppose; to revoke the command of.
    For us to alter anuthing, is to lift ourselves against God; and, as it were, to countermand him. Hooker.
Coun"ter*mand noun
Definitions
  1. A contrary order; revocation of a former order or command.
    Have you no countermand for Claudio yet, But he must die to-morrow? Shak.

Webster 1913