cancello

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [kaŋˈkɛl.loː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [kan̠ʲˈt͡ʃɛl.lo]^[1]

Forms

cancellō (present infinitive cancellāre, perfect active cancellāvī, supine cancellātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from cancellī “lattice, grating” with the verb suffix ⟨-ō⟩.^[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Columella, of laying out land in a grid.^[2] Lewis & Short note it is post-Augustan.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant to arrange in a criss-cross pattern, as in Pliny the Elder, and to enclose in a lattice or lay out land in a grid, as of vines in Columella.^[2][4] In Ulpian it meant to cancel a document, originally by crossing it through.^[2][5]

It survives in Italian cancellare and Spanish cancelar.^[1] Through Anglo-French and Old French canceler it gave English cancel in the late 14th century, “to cross out with lines”.^[3]

Timeline

• 1st century AD – Columella uses it of laying out vines.^[2][6]
• before 223 AD – Ulpian uses it of cancelling.^[2][6]
• late 14th century – English cancel is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To arrange crosswise, make like a lattice.^[2]
2. To cancel, cross out.^[2]

Word family

• cancellātim
• cancellātiō

Related words

• cancellārius
• cancellī
• cancellus
• cancellōsus
• English cancel
• English chancellor

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de