This week’s theme
Misleading words

This week’s words
antipelargy
misdoubt
withsay
depurate
disannul


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PRONUNCIATION:

(dis-uh-NUHL)

MEANING:

verb tr.: To annul completely; cancel or make void.

ETYMOLOGY:

From dis- (completely) + annul, from Anglo-French annuller, from Latin annullare (to bring to nothing), from Latin ad nullum (to nothing). Earliest documented use: 1485.

NOTES:

The prefix dis- often signals reversal, removal, or negation, as in disconnect, disarm, and disagree. Not here. In disannul, dis- is an intensifier meaning “completely”. The word does not undo an annulment; it annuls something utterly. Annul already goes back to Latin ad nullum, “to nothing”, so disannul takes something to nothing, and then makes sure it stays there. It doesn’t press Undo; it presses Delete and then stamps VOID.

USAGE:

“In what appears to be a letter sent with the boy back to Russia, she asked that the adoption be disannulled.”
US Mom Sends Adopted Son Back To Russia; All Things Considered; NPR (Washington, DC); Apr 9, 2010.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: