Meanings
present singular third person annuls · participle present annulling · participle past annulled · past annulled
- transitiveTo formally revoke the validity of.
If you ask how religion thus falls on the thorns and faces death, and in the very act annuls annihilation, I cannot explain the matter, for it is religion's secret, and to understand it you must yourself have been a religious man of the extremer type.
1902, William James, “Lecture 2”, in The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature […] , New York, N.Y.; London: Longmans, Green, and Co. […], →OCLCAntonyms: uphold
- transitiveTo dissolve (a marital union) on the grounds that it is not valid.
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo formally revoke the validity of.
More synonyms by meaning
verbcancel officially
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinannullō“annihilate, annul”
- Old Frenchanuller
- Middle Englishannullen
- Englishannul
From Middle English annullen, from Old French anuller, from Latin annullō (“annihilate, annul”), from ad (“to”) + nūllus (“none, not any”).
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἀναιρέω
- ἀναιρέω (anairéō)formally revoke the validity of
Bulgarian отменям, анулирам
- отменям (otmenjam)formally revoke the validity of
- анулирам (anuliram)formally revoke the validity of
- разтрогвам (raztrogvam)dissolve (a marital union)
Catalan anul·lar
- anul·larformally revoke the validity of
Chinese Mandarin 廢除 /废除, 取消
- 廢除 /废除 (fèichú)formally revoke the validity of
- 取消 (qǔxiāo)formally revoke the validity of
Danish annullere, ophæve
- annullereformally revoke the validity of
- ophæveformally revoke the validity of
- sletteformally revoke the validity of
Dutch annuleren, ontbinden
- annulerenformally revoke the validity of
- ontbindendissolve (a marital union)
- annulerendissolve (a marital union)
Finnish mitätöidä, kumota
- mitätöidäformally revoke the validity of
- kumotaformally revoke the validity of
- mitätöidädissolve (a marital union)
French annuler
- annulerformally revoke the validity of
German annullieren, annullieren
- annullierenformally revoke the validity of
- annullierendissolve (a marital union)
Greek ακυρώνω, καταργώ
- ακυρώνω (akyróno)formally revoke the validity of
- καταργώ (katargó)formally revoke the validity of
- ακυρώνω (akyróno)dissolve (a marital union)
Hebrew בִּטֵּל
- בִּטֵּל (bitél)formally revoke the validity of
Hindi निरसन
- निरसन (nirsan)formally revoke the validity of
Hungarian érvénytelenít
- érvénytelenítformally revoke the validity of
Irish cuir ar ceal
- cuir ar cealformally revoke the validity of
Italian annullare
- annullareformally revoke the validity of
Japanese 取り消す, 廃棄する
- 取り消す (torikesu)formally revoke the validity of
- 廃棄する (haiki-suru)formally revoke the validity of
Latin annūllō
- annūllōformally revoke the validity of
Māori whakakāhore
- whakakāhoreformally revoke the validity of
Norwegian annullere, oppheve
- annullereformally revoke the validity of
- oppheveformally revoke the validity of
Norwegian Bokmål tilbakekalle
- tilbakekalleformally revoke the validity of
Polish anulować, anulować
- anulowaćformally revoke the validity of
- anulowaćdissolve (a marital union)
Portuguese anular, anular
- anularformally revoke the validity of
- anulardissolve (a marital union)
Romanian anula, revoca
- anulaformally revoke the validity of
- revocaformally revoke the validity of
Russian аннули́ровать, отменя́ть
- аннули́ровать (annulírovatʹ)formally revoke the validity of
- отменя́ть (otmenjátʹ)formally revoke the validity of
- отмени́ть (otmenítʹ)formally revoke the validity of
- расторга́ть (rastorgátʹ)dissolve (a marital union)
- расто́ргнуть (rastórgnutʹ)dissolve (a marital union)
Spanish anular, anular
- anularformally revoke the validity of
- anulardissolve (a marital union)
Swedish annullera, ogiltigförklara
- annulleraformally revoke the validity of
- ogiltigförklaraformally revoke the validity of
Ukrainian касува́ти, скасува́ти
- касува́ти (kasuváty)formally revoke the validity of
- скасува́ти (skasuváty)formally revoke the validity of
Yiddish אַנולירן
- אַנולירן (anulirn)formally revoke the validity of
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with annul
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
annul. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/annul
“annul.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/annul. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “annul,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/annul.
Source: annul on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.