cancellus Latin · revision 9938
17 Oct 2026, 00:56 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Varro|origins=la cancer}}
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [kaŋˈkɛl.lʊs]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [kan̠ʲˈt͡ʃɛl.lus]^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Forms==
+ '''cancellus''' ''m'' (genitive cancellī); second declension^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is a diminutive of [[cancer]] in the sense “lattice”, with [[m|la|-lus]].^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ The OLD's earliest citation is Varro, of a latticed barrier, and Köbler's earliest source is Cicero.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010) Köbler dates Varro 116–27 BC.^(Köbler 2010)
+
+ ==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.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)
+
+ In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant a grating, enclosure, and the partition between nave and sanctuary.^(Stelten 1995) Medieval Latin used the plural for the railing that separates the raised sanctuary from the people, and so the chancel.^(Niermeyer 1976) English ''chancel'' (c. 1300) is from it through Old French.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of a latticed barrier.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses the plural ''cancellī''.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny uses it of lines on an elephant's skin.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * c. 1300 – English ''chancel'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Noun===
+ # ''(usually plural)'' A latticed barrier, [[m|en|grating]], [[m|en|railing]].^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)
+ # ''(Ecclesiastical Latin)'' The screen between nave and sanctuary; the [[m|en|chancel]].^(Stelten 1995)^(Niermeyer 1976)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[cancellārius]]
+ * [[cancellō]]
+ * [[cancellosus]]
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[cancer]]
+ * [[en|chancel]]
+ * [[en|cancel]]
+
+ ==Usage notes==
+ Lewis & Short treat it under the plural ''cancellī''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}