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Glite Dictionary
to prescind

to prescind

1 9.9
To leave something out when you discuss or decide
  • verb
  • /prɪˈsɪnd/
  • Archaic
: prescindir
  • To better understand the debate, it helps to prescind from the historical context and analyze the arguments on their own merits.

Examples

  • Aquinas prescinded from the concrete and developed a perspective that enabled him to conceive of grace as a distinct order of being beyond the order of nature.

    Academic text (2010)

  • In making real-world contracts with someone else, for whatever purpose, we expressly prescind from the other party's personal, private motivation.

    Academic text (1998)

  • We cannot prescind from the legal and juridical ways of thinking by which we live.

    Academic text (2007)

  • For the short run, granted the need to build a fund of trust, it seemed justifiable to prescind from current problems.

    Academic text (1991)

  • In short, in 1940s films, characters and their relations with one another seem somehow already prescinded from the narrative's social setting.

    Academic text (1998)

  • This apparent anomaly suggests that we should try to prescind from where we are coming from and argue the issue on its theological merits.

    Academic text (2007)

  • He found himself prescinding from the classical, objective ways of looking at the subject, e.g., as soul, essence, possessing faculties.

    Academic text (2002)

  • "Caritas in veritate" at various places enriches its explanations with the concept of nature: "the destiny of man who cannot prescind from his nature" (no. 21); "wounded nature" (no. 34).

    Academic text (2010)

  • In order to make an unbiased decision, we must prescind from our personal feelings about the situation.

  • The committee decided to prescind from the irrelevant details to focus on the main issues at hand.

Synonyms

to push aside
vsto prescind
6 4.1

Refuse to think about something, for example worries or objections

separates from context for analysis rather than refusing or ignoring it

Antonyms

to include
∞ 1.0

To make a person or thing part of something larger

to consider
∞ 1.1

To think carefully before making a decision

How Separate

to exclude
280 3.0
to prescind
  • Archaic
1 9.9
to set aside
69 3.9
to abstract
6 7.3
to consider
∞ 1.8

Surface Forms

prescind infinitive
prescinded past
prescinded past participle
prescinding present participle
prescinds third person singular

Morphology

prescind = pre + scind

The etymological components are not productive English morphemes for learners ('scind' is not a known standalone word), so the meaning cannot be reliably derived from the parts.

Etymology

Prescind comes from two old parts: pre- meaning 'before' and scind meaning 'to cut or separate', so you can imagine it as 'cutting something away' from its surroundings. That's why to prescind is to set something apart or leave it out of consideration.