different between expunge vs annul

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin expungere, present active infinitive of expungo, from ex + pungo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ks.?p?nd?/
• Rhymes: -?nd?

Verb

expunge (third-person singular simple present expunges, present participle expunging, simple past and past participle expunged)

1. (transitive) To erase or strike out.
2. (transitive) To eliminate completely; annihilate.
3. (transitive, computing) To delete permanently (e-mail etc.) that was previously marked for deletion but still stored.

Derived terms

Translations

Latin

Verb

expunge

1. second-person singular present active imperative of expung?

English

Etymology

From Middle English annullen, from Old French anuller, from Latin annull? (“annihilate, annul”), from ad (“to”) + n?llus (“none, not any”).

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -?l
• IPA^(key): /??n?l/
• Homophone: Anal (an ethnic group in India; not to be confused with anal, which is not homophonous)

Verb

annul (third-person singular simple present annuls, present participle annulling, simple past and past participle annulled)

1. (transitive) To formally revoke the validity of.
   • 1902, William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience, Lecture 2:

     If you ask how religion thus falls on the thorns and faces death, and in the very act annuls annihilation, I cannot explain the matter, for it is religion's secret, and to understand it you must yourself have been a religious man of the extremer type.

2. (transitive) To dissolve (a marital union) on the grounds that it is not valid.

Derived terms

• annulment

Related terms

• (formally revoke the validity of): make or render null and void, null, nullify
• (dissolve (a marital union)): dissolve

Translations

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “annul”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

Anagrams

• Luann, Lunan