English

Noun

cancellus ‎(plural cancelli)

1. (architecture) A barrier, balustrade or railing, or screen, dividing the main body of a church from the chancel.
2. (anatomy) One of the interlacing osseous plates constituting the elastic porous tissue of certain parts of the bones, especially in their articular extremities.

Latin

Etymology

Diminutive of cancer. Literally: "little crab".

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /kanˈkel.lus/, [kaŋˈkɛl.lʊs]

Noun

cancellus m ‎(genitive cancelli); second declension

1. lattice, grate, grid
2. bars, barrier
3. railings

Usage notes

Usually used in the plural, rarely in the singular.

Inflection

Second declension.

Derived terms

• cancellō

Descendants

• Old French: chancel, cancel
  • English: chancel
  • Spanish: cancel
• Greek: κάγκελο ‎(kánkelo)
• Italian: cancello

References

• cancellus in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• CANCELLUS in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “cancellus”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.