Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An act of annulling.
  • noun The invalidation of a marriage, as for nonconsummation, effected by means of a declaration stating that the marriage was never valid.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act of annulling; specifically, the act of making void retrospectively as well as prospectively: as, the annulment of a marriage (as distinguished from the granting of a divorce).

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The act of annulling; abolition; invalidation.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An act or instance of annulling.
  • noun A state of having been annulled.
  • noun An invalidation of something, especially a legal contract
  • noun A legal (notably judicial) declaration that a marriage is invalid; the procedure leading to it.
  • noun archaic Total destruction.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the state of being cancelled or annulled
  • noun (law) a formal termination (of a relationship or a judicial proceeding etc)
  • noun the act of abrogating; an official or legal cancellation

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Recorded since the 15th century (sense destruction); from to annul (from Middle English annullen, from Middle French annuller, from Latin annullare, from ad 'to' nullus 'not any, nothing' + verbal ending -are)+ -ment 'means to' (from Latin -mentum)

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Examples

  • San Jose family law attorney comments on the term annulment ...

    California Family Law Blog 2010

  • Consuelo and Sunny officially divorced in 1921, and after obtaining an annulment from the Pope (as Sunny had converted to Catholicism and the Balsan family viewed the marriage between Consuelo and Jacques as unsanctioned due to her divorce), Gladys finally became the (2nd) 9th Duchess of Marlborough at age 40.

    An Aristocratic Ménage: Consuelo, Sunny and Gladys | Edwardian Promenade 2008

  • I suspect that Hanover could get an annulment if she pressed for one — Giulianni was cheating on her and one of the reasons that an annulment is often granted is if one of the parties had “no intention of fidelity” when they got married in the first place.

    Matthew Yglesias » Heh. Indeed. 2007

  • Some called the annulment “a ruling handed down in Kandahar” and “a real fatwa against the emancipation of women,” the BBC said.

    Appeals Court Overrules Annulment Based on Virginity 2008

  • My father tried to get around various court decrees by claiming that my mother was still legally married to him, until there was an annulment from a rabbi, called a get.

    sharia 2005

  • When King Henry VIII of England decided to divorce Catherine of Aragorn to marry Anne Boleyn, he sought an annulment from the Pope.

    November 2003 2003

  • Four of the postulants have had marriages that ended in annulment; two never married.

    Women of God 2002

  • Four of the postulants have had marriages that ended in annulment; two never married.

    Women of God 2002

  • You go on to talk more about, you know, the whole idea -- I don ` t know if you use the word annulment, but basically Martin Luther looked the other way.

    Martin Luther 2004

  • They got an annulment, which is why the non-consummation bit is important.

    Truth and Beauty The Year in Pictures 2008

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