rhizoverbBeta
DictionarynullWithout force or effect
adjective / verb

null

NULL/nʌl/

Having no force or effect, or making something so.

Without both signatures, the agreement is null and legally unenforceable.

A judge formally cancels a property-transfer instrument while the original holder retains the house keys, making the document's lack of legal effect recognizable through judicial cancellation and its concrete consequence.
Etymology
nullLatinnot any, none

Latin nullus means “not any” or “none.” In the legal sense, that absence concerns force or validity: something null has no legal effect.

In context

US National Archives35:47
he tries to insert the phrase null void of No Force and effect which was the language from The Kentucky Resolution federal law
For the People, For the Country: Patrick Henry’s Final Political Battle

More examples

  • The judge declares the contract null and void.
  • The new agreement nulls the earlier payment terms.
  • The court nulled the sale because the seller lacked authority.

Forms

null · nulls · nulled · nulling

nullify verb — To make legally invalid or ineffective.

nullification noun — The act of making something ineffective.

Similar words

void
Emphasizes that an agreement or act has no legal effect.
invalid
Can also describe reasoning that fails to support a conclusion.
annul
Specifically means to cancel something formally or legally.