Pre-scĭnd′, v. t.
v. t. [Lat. præscindere, from præ, before, and scindere, to cut asunder; It. prescindere, Sp. & Pr. prescindir, Fr. prescinder.]
- To cut off; to abstract. [Obs.] Norris.
- (Metaph.) To consider by a separate act of attention or analysis.
We may, indeed, be said to prescind, but not to abstract. Thus, let A, B, C, be three qualities of an object. We prescind A in abstracting it from B and C; but we can not, without impropriety, simply say that we abstract A. Sir W. Hamilton.