court of cassation

noun

In several legal systems, the highest-level court of appeal in procedural matters, which is empowered to quash a verdict but then refers the case back for a new trial at the previous level.

Similar
court of last resort
OriginFrench cour de cassation →
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Meanings

nouncourt of cassation (plural courts of cassation)

plural courts of cassation

  1. lawIn several legal systems, the highest-level court of appeal in procedural matters, which is empowered to quash a verdict but then refers the case back for a new trial at the previous level.

    Synonyms: court of last resort

Synonyms & antonyms

nounIn several legal systems, the highest-level court of appeal in procedural matters, which is empowered to quash a verdict but then refers the case back for a new trial at the previous level.

Similar
court of last resort

Origin

  1. Frenchcour de cassation
  2. Englishcourt of cassation

Calque of French cour de cassation, from cour (“court”) + de (“of”) + cassation, from the verb casser (“to break”), indicating the power of such a court to quash the ruling of the court below.

More words from French

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic مَحْكَمَة التَّمْيِيزِ, مَحْكَمَة النَّقْضِ
  • مَحْكَمَة التَّمْيِيزِthe highest court of appeal
  • مَحْكَمَة النَّقْضِthe highest court of appeal
Chinese Mandarin 翻案法院
  • 翻案法院 (fān'àn fǎyuàn)the highest court of appeal
Dutch Hof van Cassatie, verbrekingshof
  • Hof van Cassatiethe highest court of appeal
  • verbrekingshofthe highest court of appeal
French cour de cassation
  • cour de cassationthe highest court of appeal
German Kassationshof
  • Kassationshofthe highest court of appeal
Greek ακυρωτικό δικαστήριο
  • ακυρωτικό δικαστήριο (akyrotikó dikastírio)the highest court of appeal
Italian corte di cassazione
  • corte di cassazionethe highest court of appeal
Japanese 破毀院
  • 破毀院 (hakiin)the highest court of appeal
Portuguese corte de cassação
  • corte de cassaçãothe highest court of appeal
Romanian curte de casație
  • curte de casațiethe highest court of appeal
Russian кассацио́нный суд
  • кассацио́нный суд (kassaciónnyj sud)the highest court of appeal
Spanish corte de casación
  • corte de casaciónthe highest court of appeal
Swedish kassationsdomstol
  • kassationsdomstolthe highest court of appeal
Cite this entry
APA

court of cassation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/court%20of%20cassation

MLA

“court of cassation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/court%20of%20cassation. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “court of cassation,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/court%20of%20cassation.

Source: court of cassation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.