annulment

Recorded since the 15th century (sense destruction); from Middle English anullement, partly from annullen (from Middle French annuller, from Latin annūllāre, from ad (“to”) + nūllus (“not any, nothing”) + verbal ending -āre) + -ment (“means to”) (from Latin -mentum) and partly from Middle French annullement.^[1] By surface analysis, annul +‎ -ment.

• IPA^(key): /əˈnʌl.mənt/

• Audio (Southern England):

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annulment (countable and uncountable, plural annulments)

1. An act or instance of annulling.
2. The state of having been annulled.
3. (law) An invalidation of something, especially a legal contract.
4. (law, Catholicism) A legal (notably judicial) declaration that a marriage is invalid; the procedure leading to it.

   Synonym: (Catholicism) declaration of nullity

5. (archaic) Total destruction.

• abolition
• nullification (cognate)
• cancellation