cancellation

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin cancellātiō,^[2][3][4] a noun of action from cancellō (“to make like a lattice; to cross out”), the source of cancel, with the suffix that became -ation.^[2][3][5] Merriam-Webster treats it as formed from cancel in English.^[6] The OED notes that in Latin the noun only meant the fixing of a boundary.^[2] The verb comes from cancellī (“lattice, crossbars”), a diminutive of cancer (“lattice”), according to Etymonline a variant of carcer (“prison”).^[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The act of cancelling, especially the crossing out of writing or the annulling of a legal document: 1535, in an Act of Henry VIII;^[2][6] the 1530s in Etymonline.^[3] Etymonline also notes an earlier use, in early 15th-century medical writing, for the crossing of the images formed by the two eyes.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Johnson (1755), citing the jurist Bartolus, defined cancellation as the wiping out of a document's contents by two lines drawn across it like a cross,^[7] which reflects the Latin sense of the verb, to mark with lattice-like lines.^[3][2] From 1843 the noun was also used in that literal sense, the marking with crossed lines.^[2] The application to reserved seats, rooms and travel bookings, and to a place freed in this way, dates from 1953.^[2][3][5] The American spelling cancelation is also used.^[8][6]

Timeline

• early 15th century – the crossing of retinal images.^[3]
• 1535 – the act of cancelling or annulling.^[2]
• 1843 – marking with crossed lines.^[2]
• 1953 – the cancelling of a reservation; a place so freed.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The act of cancelling something, such as an arrangement, a contract or an event: the cancellation of the concert.
2. A booking or reservation that has been cancelled, or the seat or room it frees: We got a table thanks to a late cancellation.
3. The marks made on a piece of mail to show that its postage stamp has been used.

Related words

• cancel
• chancel
• chancellor
• incarceration

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins