annulment
UK[əˈnʌlmənt]US[əˈnʌlmənt]
n
the act of officially stating that something, especially a marriage or a legal contract, no longer exists and is considered invalid from the beginning.
n
the state of being annulled.
Morpheme Breakdown
annul
ment
annul
to make to nothing
ment
Etymology
the word 'annulment' originates from the late latin verb 'annullare', meaning 'to reduce to nothing', which itself is a combination of 'ad-' (to) and 'nullus' (none, nothing). the suffix '-ment', of latin origin, was added to form a noun indicating the action or result. thus, the literal construction is "the act of making something null." this etymological path directly informs its modern legal and formal usage, where an annulment is a declaration that renders a contract or marriage void, as if it never existed, aligning perfectly with the root concept of nullification.
Analysis
Structure: annul + ment
- annul: from latin 'annullare', meaning 'to make to nothing'. in this word, it functions as the core verb root.
- ment: from latin '-mentum', a suffix forming nouns that denote the action or result of an action. it functions as a noun-forming suffix.
Examples
the court granted an annulment of their marriage after evidence of fraud was presented.
she sought an annulment of the contract on the grounds of misrepresentation.
the annulment of the treaty by the new government created international tension.