Revocation

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˌɹɛvəˈkeɪʃən/

Definitions

1. The act of officially canceling or withdrawing a license, privilege, or legal right that was previously granted
2. This term describes the act of withdrawing or canceling permissions, privileges, or entitlements that were established prior
3. The process by which a granted right, license, or privilege is formally canceled or taken back is known in legal contexts

Etymology: The Latin verb "revocare" literally meant "to call back," built from "re-" (back) and "vocare" (to call), the same "vocare" that gave English "vocal" and "vocation." A revocation, then, is at root a calling back: the summoning of something once granted or sent out so that it returns to the one who issued it. The word reached English in the Middle Ages by way of Old French "revocacion," which the Latin noun "revocatio" had already supplied with its sense of recalling. Its earliest English uses kept that legal and official flavour, describing the withdrawal of a grant, a decree, or a permission. Over time the term broadened from formal documents to any act of cancelling, whether a licence, a law, or a promise.

Synonyms: repeal, withdrawal, cancellation

Antonyms: confirmation, ratification