annuler

Forms

annuler^[1] Old and Middle French anuler, anuller, adnuller.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ecclesiastical Latin adnūllō (“to count as nothing, despise”), a Christian Latin verb formed with ad- on nūllus (“none”) and calqued on a Greek verb of the Septuagint meaning “to count as nothing, despise”; in medieval texts the Latin verb was also a legal term.^[2][4][5][6] Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF call the source medieval Latin annullare, rare in Late Latin.^[7][8] Littré explains the double ⟨n⟩ by the ⟨d⟩ of the prefix.^[3] Cognate with Occitan anullar, Spanish anular and Italian annullare.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, in the Saint Graal (first half of the 13th century), is isolated and has the moral sense “to despise”.^[2][4] The legal sense “to make null” follows in 1289.^[2][7][5]

Semantic evolution

The moral sense was soon displaced by the legal one, “to declare or make void”, and this led to the everyday use “to do away with, weaken until it disappears”.^[4] Nicole Oresme uses adnuller and anuller in the 14th century in the sense “to destroy, bring to nothing”.^[3]

The noun annulation (1320) was rare in the Middle Ages, when the usual word was annulement, until the end of the 18th century.^[7][4] English took annul in the late 14th century, from Anglo-Norman and Old French anuler or directly from Late Latin.^[9]

Timeline

• 1200–1250 – Anuler “to despise” in the Saint Graal.^[2]
• 1289 – Anuller “to make null”.^[2][7]
• 1293 – The spelling annuller, in a Liège document.^[2]
• 1320 – Annullacion, the noun.^[4][7]
• Late 14th century – English annul.^[9]
• 1596 – Annullative, the first record of annulatif.^[2]
• 1823 – Annulable appears.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. (law) To declare null, to annul or invalidate a decision, a contract, a marriage: Le tribunal a annulé la vente.^[10][2]
2. To cancel something planned, such as a meeting, an order or a trip: Le concert de samedi est annulé.^[10][11]
3. To make ineffective, to cancel out.^[8][3]
4. (reflexive, reciprocal) S'annuler: to cancel each other out, to give a zero result.^[10][12]

Word family

• annulable

Related words

• annulation
• nul
• Latin nūllus
• English annul

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 24, 618b
7. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
12. ^ Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org