Vacate — in plain language

Plain language

for a court to cancel or wipe out an earlier order or judgment so it no longer counts; or, in property, to move out and leave a place empty

• cancel or undo a ruling
• set aside a decision
• move out and leave empty

What to watch for

• In court 'vacate' means to cancel or wipe out an order so it has no effect — not merely to disagree with it; a plain rewrite should make clear the earlier ruling no longer counts.
• 'Vacate' and 'reverse' overlap but differ: reversing flips a decision to the opposite result, while vacating erases it (often sending the matter back); a plain version should not treat them as identical.
• The same word means 'cancel a judgment' in court and 'move out' in a lease; a plain rewrite must pick the sense the sentence intends, since they are unrelated.

Cancel vs. Reverse. Vacating a decision erases it; reversing it replaces it with the opposite result. A court that vacates a judgment often sends the case back so the lower court can try again, whereas a reversal decides the issue the other way. A plain rewrite should not swap these — "wiped out" or "set aside" fits vacate, while "flipped to the opposite" fits reverse.

Two Unrelated Senses. The courtroom meaning ("cancel a judgment") and the property meaning ("move out") share a spelling but nothing else. A plain version must read the surrounding sentence to choose the right one: a motion "to vacate" cancels a ruling, while a notice to "vacate the premises" tells someone to leave.

Common Misunderstandings by Non-Lawyers.

• "Vacating a judgment just means the judge disagrees with it." (No — it cancels the judgment so it has no legal effect at all.)
• "Vacate and reverse mean the same thing." (Not quite — vacate erases a decision, while reverse changes it to the opposite outcome.)
• "If a judgment is vacated, the case is over." (Often not — a vacated judgment is frequently sent back for the dispute to be decided again.)

Legal definition

In court, to vacate something is to cancel or wipe out an earlier order, judgment, or award so that it no longer has any legal effect — as if it had not been entered. A judge may vacate a default judgment, and an appeals court may vacate a lower court's ruling and often send the case back to be redone. In property and lease contexts the same word has a separate, ordinary meaning: to move out of a place and leave it empty.

Meanings by context

real property and leases: to move out and leave the place empty

Examples

Where you'll see it

• motions to vacate a judgment
• appellate opinions
• eviction and lease notices
• arbitration award challenges

Related terms

• overrule
• reverse
• remand
• set aside
• judgment
• stay

Word details

Pronunciation

VAY-kayt

Part of speech

verb

Origin

Latin — from 'vacare' — to be empty or void; to make empty or annul

Domains

civil procedure, criminal law, appellate law, real property

Frequency

common

Formality

high