annulment
n.n. the legal process of making a marriage or a contract officially invalid as if it never existed. It is like a 'do-over' for a legal agreement.
n. the legal declaration that a marriage or contract is invalid from the beginning, as though it never existed. Often used in the context of civil law to describe the formal cancellation of a legal status.
The court granted the annulment of their marriage.
After discovering that the original contract was signed under duress, the judge ordered the annulment of the agreement.
The annulment of the treaty was a significant diplomatic failure, as it effectively erased years of international cooperation and required both parties to renegotiate their entire relationship from scratch.
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. By surface analysis, annul + -ment.