ancilla

American  

[an-sil-uh] / ænˈsɪl ə /

noun

• ancillas
  plural

1. an accessory; auxiliary or adjunct.

2. Archaic. a maidservant.

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• ancillas
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of ancilla

First recorded in 1870–75; from Latin: literally, “handmaid,” diminutive of ancula “maid,” from unrecorded anquola, equivalent to an-, a variant of ambi- “around” + -quola, noun derivative of the root kwel-, kwol- “turn about,” hence “one who circles around”; cognate with Greek amphípolos “attendant”; see origin at ambi-, amphi-, ancile

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ancilla ancillas

Many of these approaches use an additional quantum system called an ancilla.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 5, 2026

Rather than measuring the original qubit directly, researchers transfer information to the ancilla and measure that auxiliary system instead.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 5, 2026

So researchers interleave the data qubits with so-called ancillary qubits and establish a quantum link called entanglement between each ancilla and its neighbors.

From Science Magazine ● Jul. 14, 2021

For example, if the measurement shows the first ancilla is 0, it reveals only that the first and second coding qubits must be in the same state, but not which state that is.

From Science Magazine ● Jul. 9, 2020

The characters consist of Iphidius, father of Pyramus; Labetrus, father of Thisbe; their children, the protagonists; their respective servants, Straton and Clitipho; and Casina, "ancilla" or handmaid to Thisbe.

From The Sources and Analogues of 'A Midsummer-night's Dream' by Compiled by Frank Sidgwick

They then use measurements on the ancillas to make the quantum mechanical equivalent of parity checks.

From Science Magazine ● Jul. 9, 2020

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---