cancel

Forms

cancel m^[1][2] Also chancel, and in Old French canciel.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin cancellus (“bar, lattice”),^{[5][1][2][3][6]} a learned form.^[5][7] In classical Latin the word was used mostly in the plural, for a railing;^[7][8][4] Christian Latin used the singular for the lattice before the altar of burnt offerings and for the screen between choir and nave.^[7][8][4] Rey derives it from cancrī (“bars, lattice”), which the diminutive replaced.^[8] Hatzfeld and Darmesteter explain chancel as a compromise between this learned form and the popular chanceau.^[5][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The GLLF finds canciel and cancel about 1228 in the Roman de la Violette, for the railing that closes off the choir of a church, after chancel in the 12th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century the bars of the room where the chancellor kept the seal were called cancels: “on parloit à luy par barreaux autrement dicts cancels” (he was spoken to through bars, otherwise called cancels).^[9] From 1740 the Académie records the sense of the place, closed by a grille, where the great seal of the State was kept.^[3][8]

The Académie entered cancel as its main form from 1718 to 1878, remarking that some people said chancel, but the word is absent from its 1932 edition, and the modern synonym is chancel.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1228 – Canciel and cancel appear in the Roman de la Violette.^[3]
• 16th century – M. de La Porte's Epithetes calls the bars of the seal room cancels.^[9]
• 1718 – The Académie lists cancel as the main form.^[7]
• 1740 – The Académie records the sense of the place where the State seal was kept.^[3][8]
• 1787 – Féraud gives both church and seal senses.^[10]
• 1932 – The word is missing from the Académie's 1932 edition.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated) The balustrade or low wall closing off the choir of a church; also chancel.^[3][4]
2. (historical) The place, enclosed by a railing or grille, where the great seal of the State was kept.^[2][3][4]

Related words

• chancel
• chanceau
• chanceler
• chancelier
• Latin cancellus

References

1. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
2. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
5. ^ a b c Hatzfeld, Adolphe; Darmesteter, Arsène; Thomas, Antoine (1890–1900), Dictionnaire général de la langue française du commencement du XVIIe siècle jusqu'à nos jours, Paris: Delagrave
6. ^ Scheler, Auguste (1888), Dictionnaire d'étymologie française d'après les résultats de la science moderne, 3rd ed., Brussels: Schepens; Paris: Vieweg
7. ^ a b c d e f g Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
8. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Huguet, Edmond (1925–1967), Dictionnaire de la langue française du seizième siècle, 7 vols., Paris: Champion / Didier
10. ^ Féraud, Jean-François (1787–1788), Dictionaire critique de la langue française, Marseille: Mossy