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prescind

American  
[pri-sind] / prɪˈsɪnd /

verb (used with object)

  1. to separate or single out in thought; abstract.

  2. to cut off, terminate, or remove.


verb (used without object)

  1. to withdraw one's attention (usually followed byfrom ).

  2. to turn aside in thought.

prescind British  
/ prɪˈsɪnd /

verb

  1. to withdraw attention (from something)

  2. (tr) to isolate, remove, or separate, as for special consideration

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • unprescinded adjective

Etymology

Origin of prescind

First recorded in 1630–40, prescind is from the Latin word praescindere to cut off in front. See pre-, rescind

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Srinivasan: On one way of understanding it, philosophy is the discipline that proposes to prescind from the particularities of the human perspective, while at the same time showing why this attempt to prescind is doomed.

From Scientific American

This principle is the identity A—A. It endures and cannot be disposed of by thought when all empirical definitions of consciousness are prescinded.

From Project Gutenberg

Thought therefore prescinds from that unity which material things could not by themselves contain, but from which it is impossible to prescind absolutely unless we wish to be reduced to an absurd conception.

From Project Gutenberg

This is what takes place in the imperfect virtual distinction: the concepts prescind from one another formally, not objectively.

From Project Gutenberg

Its essential significance, its distinguishing note, is that of self-sufficiency or self-subsistence, prescinding entirely from all considerations of limits or their absence.

From Project Gutenberg