Dictionary

nullify en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˈnʌlɪfaɪ/
• (US) audio

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ís? Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos Proto-Italic *oinosder. Proto-Italic *noinolos Latin nūllusder. Old French nul Middle French nulbor. English null Latin -i- Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-der. Proto-Italic *θakos Proto-Italic *-fakos Latin -ficus Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin -ficō Latin -ificāreder. Old French -ifierbor. Middle English -ifien English -ify English nullify From null + -ify.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To make legally invalid.
   • Lesbians for Justice therefore appeals to the organizers of the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival to nullify its "womyn-born-womyn only" policy, and to allow the attendance of post-operative male-to-female transsexuals at all future festivals. 1992 May 8, Tamara Severns, “Open Letter To Michigan Festival Organizers”, in Gay Community News, page 4:
   • [T]hey were baffled by tears in moustached sixth-formers, by walls of impassivity in the Lower School, by silent conspiracies which nullified the rules. 1956, Anthony Burgess, Time for a Tiger (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 37:
   • The contract has been nullified.
   • Near-synonyms: cancel, void, quash
2. To prevent from happening.
3. To make of no use or value; to cancel out.
   • It nullifies the night / from overkill 1983, Men At Work, “Overkill”, in Cargo:
   • Blowproof water has given the Navy the weapon it needed to fight fires with helicopters. Previously, the downwash from the rotor blades blew the foam, or whatever agent was being used, off the fire, nullifying its effect. 1966, Popular Mechanics, volume 125, number 2, page 115:
   • The persuasion that a thing is impossible, at once nullifies endeavour, and like the Turkish "it is fate," torporises activity and exertion. 1843, The Metropolitan - Volume 36, page 52:

Forms

Relateds

null · annihilate · nullifiable · null and void · nullification

Synonyms

quash · void · annul (to make legally invalid) · cancel · cancel (to make legally invalid)

Translations (58)

pt cassar (make legally invalid) · fi mitätöidä (make of no use or value) · it annullare (make legally invalid) · pt evitar (prevent from happening) · sv ogiltigförklara (make legally invalid) · hu érvénytelenít (make legally invalid) · it cassare (make legally invalid) · el ακυρώνω (make legally invalid) · hu megakadályoz (prevent from happening) · fi ehkäistä (prevent from happening) · he בִּטֵּל (make legally invalid) · ia nullificar (make legally invalid) · sv omintetgöra (make legally invalid) · bg неутрализирам (prevent from happening) · fi kumota (make of no use or value) · hu hatálytalanít (make legally invalid) · cmn 廢除 /废除 (make legally invalid) · es derogar (make legally invalid) · ja 取り消す (make legally invalid) · cmn 使無用 /使无用 (make of no use or value) · fi estää (prevent from happening) · es invalidar (make of no use or value) · grc ἀθετέω (make legally invalid) · cmn 阻止 (prevent from happening) · fr nullifier (make legally invalid) · uk скасува́ти (make legally invalid) · nl ongedaan maken (make legally invalid) · nl vernietigen (make legally invalid) · es anular (make of no use or value) · nl annuleren (make legally invalid) · ru аннули́ровать (make legally invalid) · sv annullera (make legally invalid) · yi מבֿטל זײַן (make legally invalid) · mi whakakāhore (make legally invalid) · uk скасо́вувати (make legally invalid) · es casar (make legally invalid) · bg анулирам (make legally invalid) · pt anular (make legally invalid) · uk нуліфікува́ти (make legally invalid) · cmn 宣告無效 /宣告无效 (make legally invalid) · fr annuler (make legally invalid) · ota ابطال ایتمك (make legally invalid) · ko 취소하다 (make legally invalid) · ota بوزمق (make legally invalid) · sv upphäva (make legally invalid) · de annullieren (make legally invalid) · es abrogar (make legally invalid) · cmn 使無效 /使无效 (make legally invalid) · it neutralizzare (make of no use or value) · cmn 抵消 (make of no use or value) · es anular (make legally invalid) · ro a anula (make legally invalid) · fr annuler (prevent from happening) · ja 破棄する (make legally invalid) · es nulificar (make of no use or value) · fr annuler (make of no use or value) · cmn 防止 (prevent from happening) · fi mitätöidä (make legally invalid)