Unscheduling

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The act of removing or canceling previously arranged plans or appointments
2. The process of altering a schedule to eliminate set events or tasks
3. A modification that leads to the absence of items from a planned timetable

Etymology: The word is a simple combination: the prefix "un-", meaning "reverse" or "undo," attached to "schedule." So "unschedule" means to remove something from a schedule or to cancel a planned set of events, and "unscheduling" is the ongoing process of doing so. The prefix "un-" is an old English element that has been attached to verbs for centuries to reverse their action, as in "tie" and "untie" or "lock" and "unlock." "Schedule" itself has a more tangled history. It traces back through Old French "cedule" and medieval Latin "schedula," a small strip or slip of paper, from the Latin "scheda," a sheet of papyrus. The original sense was a written document or list, and the idea of a timetable came later, which is why a schedule is at heart a sheet of paper that tells you what happens when. Taking that paper back out of the plan gives "unschedule." This is a modern formation, built on existing English parts rather than an inherited word, so it reads as a clear piece of compound-making.

Synonyms: cancelling, rescheduling, postponing, delaying

Antonyms: scheduling, planning, arranging, fixing, organizing