annullo

Forms

annūllō (present infinitive annūllāre, perfect active annūllāvī, supine annūllātum); first conjugation^[1] L&S prefers the spelling adnūllō.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin ad- + nūllus (“none, nothing”), “to bring to nothing”.^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in the Vulgate, in the book of Ecclesiasticus (21.5), meaning to annihilate: “pride will be brought to nothing” (adnullabitur superbia).^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It belongs to Ecclesiastical Latin, where it means to annihilate, annul or destroy.^[2][6][7] Georges also cites it from the rhetorician Albinus.^[3] In medieval texts it was used of destroying or laying waste churches and other buildings, of ruining or killing people, of putting out a fire, and of healing or releasing,^[8] and it came to mean invalidating or nullifying.^[9] English took annul in the late 14th century from Anglo-French and Old French anuler, or directly from the Late Latin verb.^[4]

Timeline

• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of pride and substance brought to nothing.^[2][5]
• 1278 – A document uses it of putting out a fire.^[8]
• late 14th century – English borrows annul, from Anglo-French and Old French or from this verb.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. (Ecclesiastical Latin) To annihilate, bring to nothing, destroy.^[2][6][7]
2. (Medieval Latin) To destroy, lay waste (a building or place).^[8]
3. (Medieval Latin) To ruin or kill (a person).^[8]
4. (Medieval Latin) To extinguish (a fire).^[8]
5. (Medieval Latin) To invalidate, annul, make void.^[9][6]

Related words

• English annul

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b c d e Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill