annexation

noun

an·​nex·​a·​tion ˌa-ˌnek-ˈsā-shən 

plural annexations

1

: the act of annexing something or the state of being annexed : the addition of an area or region to a country, state, etc.

The Senate rejected the Hawaiian reciprocity treaty, the purchase of the Virgin Islands from Denmark, the annexation of Santo Domingo and the annexation of Samoa.

—Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.

In the early part of the 20th century, Chinese writers generally dated the annexation of Tibet to the 18th century.

—Elliot Sperling

2

: something that is annexed

… defended their annexations with fire and sword.

—George Bernard Shaw

annexational

ˌa-ˌnek-ˈsā-sh(ə-)nəl 

adjective

annexationist

ˌa-ˌnek-ˈsā-sh(ə-)nist 

noun

Examples of annexation in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

What kind of military would Canada need to survive, or even to resist, an American annexation? —Stephen Marche, The Atlantic, 1 July 2025

And Trump—who has been bashing Canada with annexation threats throughout trade talks—had also threatened a Section 301 investigation into impacts of the DST on the US economy, which meant other punitive measures could be coming if the DST wasn't removed. —ArsTechnica, 30 June 2025

As president, one of John Tyler’s biggest accomplishments was pursuing the annexation of Texas, which officially joined the Union in 1845 under President James K. Polk. —Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 May 2025

The Palestinian fears have been fed by the fact that powerful ministers in Israel’s hard-line government advocate annexation of the West Bank, home to nearly three million Palestinians and 500,000 Israeli settlers. —Fatima Abdulkarim Afif Amireh, New York Times, 8 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for annexation

• abdication
• aberration
• abjuration
• abnegation
• abrogation
• acceptation
• acclamation
• acclimation
• accusation
• activation
• actuation
• acylation