Etymologically
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cancellus

Etymology and origin of the Latin word cancellus

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Varro
Ultimate origin
Latin (cancer)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [kaŋˈkɛl.lʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [kan̠ʲˈt͡ʃɛl.lus][1]

Forms

cancellus m (genitive cancellī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is a diminutive of cancer in the sense “lattice”, with -lus.[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is Varro, of a latticed barrier, and Köbler's earliest source is Cicero.[2][4] Köbler dates Varro 116–27 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It was a latticed barrier, a grating or railing, as in the law courts and theatres, mostly in the plural cancellī, as in Cicero and Columella, and Pliny uses it of the criss-cross lines on an elephant's skin.[2][5]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant a grating, enclosure, and the partition between nave and sanctuary.[6] Medieval Latin used the plural for the railing that separates the raised sanctuary from the people, and so the chancel.[7] English chancel (c. 1300) is from it through Old French.[8]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of a latticed barrier.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses the plural cancellī.[5][4]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny uses it of lines on an elephant's skin.[2][4]
  • c. 1300 – English chancel is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (usually plural) A latticed barrier, grating, railing.[2][5]
  2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) The screen between nave and sanctuary; the chancel.[6][7]

Word family

Usage notes

Lewis & Short treat it under the plural cancellī.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Cite this entry

“Cancellus.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/cancellus. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·