cancel

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈkænts(ə)l/, /ˈkæns(ə)l/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English cancellen, from Anglo-French canceler, borrowed from Old French canceller (“to cross out”), or directly borrowed from Latin cancellāre (“to make like a lattice; to cross out writing”),^[2][3][4] from cancelli (“crossbars, grating”), a diminutive of cancer, lattice,^[2][4] the shape of the crossed lines.^[5] Chancellor and chancel are from the same source.^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

To cross out writing with lines: 1399, in the Rolls of Parliament;^[2] the late 14th century in Etymonline.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In legal contexts, crossing out made a document void, and the figurative to nullify an obligation is from the mid-15th century.^[5][3] To call off a planned event, and in mathematics to strike out equal quantities, came later.^[7][8] In printing a cancel is a leaf substituted for a cancelled one (1806),^[9] and in music a natural sign (1912).^[9]

Timeline

• 1399 – to cross out.^[2]
• mid-15th century – to annul.^[3]
• 1806 – a cancel-leaf (noun).^[9]
• 1912 – a natural sign.^[9]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To decide that a planned event will not take place; to call off.
2. To annul or end an agreement, order or obligation.
3. To cross out; to mark a stamp or ticket so it cannot be reused.
4. (cancel out) To balance out; to neutralize.
5. (mathematics) To remove a common factor or term.

Noun

1. (printing) A leaf printed to replace one that has been removed.

Word family

• cancelable
• canceler
• precancel
• recancel

Related words

• chancel
• cancellation
• chancellery
• chancellor
• chancery

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press