What does remand mean?
Remand is a legal term for sending a prisoner, detainee, or other person back into custody or returning a matter to a court or authority for further action. As a verb, it commonly appears in the phrase “remand to custody,” meaning that the person must be held in prison while a case proceeds or while a decision is reconsidered. It can also describe a higher court sending a case back to a lower court. As a noun, a remand is the formal act or order requiring this return. The word is usually associated with courts, detention, and criminal procedure rather than ordinary interpersonal interactions. Its legal specificity distinguishes it from remind, which concerns memory, and from general terms such as return or send back, which are broader but do not carry the same institutional implications.
To send a prisoner or other person back to prison or to another authority, especially by order of a court.
"The authorities remanded the suspect to custody for further questioning."
Chiefly used in legal and institutional contexts. It can also mean to refer a case back to a court or authority for further consideration.
The act or order of sending a person back to custody or another authority, or of returning a case for further action.
"The prisoner is in custody following remand pending sentence."
Often used with a preposition such as “on remand” or “in remand,” particularly in British legal usage.
The plural is used for separate instances of remanding or for legal orders to return people to custody.
"The court issued remands for two prisoners awaiting trial."
In legal language, to remand is to send a person back into custody while the next stage of the legal process moves forward.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does remand come from?
Remand entered English from French包括了remander, a verb meaning “to send back.” French remander derives from Medieval Latin remandare, formed with the prefix re- and mandare, “to order” or “to command.” The same Latin root underlies related English words such as command, demand, mandate, and countermand.
Related word forms
How remand is actually used
The word is chiefly formal and legal. In British usage, “remand” often specifically concerns holding a person in custody pending trial or appeal; in US usage, it may also refer to sending a case back to a lower court for further action.
Easily confused with remand
Remand means to send someone back to custody or another authority, whereas remind means to help someone remember something.