Annullation

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The formal act of declaring a marriage, contract or law legally void so that it is treated as never having existed
2. Official cancellation of an agreement, marriage or decision, making it as though it had never taken effect
3. Nullifying a legal bond or institution by decree, so that it is regarded as having no validity from the start

Etymology: The word arrived in English by way of Middle French, where "annulation" was the everyday term for the act of annulling, and English speakers had already been using a close relative, "adnullation," in Middle English. It is built from "annul," which itself came from Late Latin "annullare," meaning "to reduce to nothing," and the ending "-ation," a suffix that turns a verb into a noun for the act or process. Put together, the word names the process of making something legally void, rather than the result. Its twin, "annulation," is a doublet: the two forms came into English through different routes and settled into related but distinct uses. The longer "annullation" has stayed closely tied to the formal, procedural sense of cancelling a legal act, which is why it appears in official and legal contexts.

Synonyms: annulment, nullification, invalidation, cancellation

Antonyms: ratification, confirmation