repeal

Definition

To cancel, invalidate, annul.

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman repeler, from Old French rapeler (“to call back, call in, call after, revoke”), from Latin repellō (“drive or thrust back”), from re- and pellō (“push or strike”). Doublet of repel.

Example Sentences

• "to repeal a law"
• "[…] I here divorce myself Both from thy table, Henry, and thy bed, Until that act of parliament be repeal’d Whereby my son is disinherited."
• "1776, Samuel Johnson, letter to James Boswell, cited in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson, London: Charles Dilly, 1791, p. 8, As manners make laws, manners likewise repeal them."