annulment
- 01 C1 Advanced
a legal decision that a marriage was never valid and therefore never truly existed.
a judicial or ecclesiastical declaration that a marriage is null and void, as opposed to a divorce which terminates a valid marriage.
Simple“After only three months, the couple applied for an annulment of their marriage.”
In context“The court granted the annulment on the grounds that one party had entered the union under significant duress.”
UsageOften used with the verbs 'seek', 'grant', or 'obtain'.
PitfallThey got an annulment of their marriage. They were granted an annulment.While 'annulment of' is grammatically correct, legal contexts usually use the passive 'granted an annulment' to describe the court's decision.
SynonymsnullificationinvalidationAntonyms - 02 C1 Advanced
the act of officially cancelling a law, a contract, or an agreement.
the formal act of rendering a legal instrument, such as a contract or statute, void and without effect.
Simple“The opposition party demanded the annulment of the new tax law.”
In context“The tribunal's decision led to the immediate annulment of all contracts signed during the period of political instability.”
UsageUsually followed by the preposition 'of'.
SynonymsAntonyms - 03 C2 Proficiency
the total destruction or ending of something.
the state of being completely reduced to nothing or destroyed.
Simple“The ancient city faced total annulment after the volcanic eruption.”
In context“The poet lamented the annulment of his hopes as the war dragged on into its fifth year.”
Teacher's tipThis sense is archaic; modern speakers almost exclusively use 'annihilation' or 'destruction' for this meaning.
SynonymsobliterationannihilationAntonyms
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.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.