Unordain

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To revoke or annul a previously established decree or appointment; to withdraw authorization or official sanction from a person or action; to undo or cancel a formal arrangement or order
2. To rescind or invalidate an official command or selection; to remove the status or privilege granted by a previous ordination; to reverse an established official decision or conferment
3. To cancel or overturn a formal appointment or decree; to strip away the authority or recognition once bestowed; to nullify a sanctioned decision or organizational act

Etymology: "Unordain" is a straightforward formation: the prefix "un-", meaning "reverse or undo," attached to "ordain." To ordain is to formally confer holy orders or to decree something with official authority, so to unordain is to strip that status or decision away again. The verb's meaning as given here, cancelling an appointment, is a looser extension of that core sense of reversing an official act. The base word "ordain" comes from Old French "ordener," which descends from Latin "ordinare," meaning "to arrange, put in order," itself from "ordo," "order." The English prefix "un-" is old and productive, and it has been attached to many verbs that reverse an action, such as "undo," "unmake," and "unseat." Because "unordain" is built from these familiar parts, its sense can be read directly from them.