cancellus

American  

[kan-sel-uhs] / kænˈsɛl əs /

noun

Architecture.

cancelli plural

1. (in an early Christian basilica) one of a row of bars separating the clergy and sometimes the choir from the congregation.

2. (in an ancient Roman basilica) one of a row of bars separating the court personnel from the spectators.

3. cancelli, a screen of such bars.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• cancelli
  plural

Etymology

Origin of cancellus

< Latin, equivalent to canc ( rī ) grating (plural of cancer, apparently dissimilated form of carcer prison) + -ellus diminutive suffix

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cancellus cancelli

Chancel is derived, through Fr. chancel or cancel, from Lat. cancellus, a cross-bar, occurring more usually in the plural in the sense of lattice, grating.

From The Romance of Words (4th ed.) by Weekley, Ernest

The torches had not been lighted, the cancelli admitted only dusk.

From Saul of Tarsus A Tale of the Early Christians by Miller, Elizabeth

When he took her extended hands, she led him to the light of the cancelli and inspected him.

From Saul of Tarsus A Tale of the Early Christians by Miller, Elizabeth

Caries of Articular Surfaces.—Tuberculous infiltration of the marrow in the surface cancelli breaks up the spongy framework of the bone into minute irregular fragments, so that it disintegrates or crumbles away—caries.

From Manual of Surgery Volume First: General Surgery. Sixth Edition. by Thomson, Alexis

The cancelli, the lattice or bar, which in the civil tribunal had divided the court from the litigants and the public, now served to separate clergy and laity.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 3 "Chitral" to "Cincinnati" by Various

"What an unrefreshed face!" the Greek said softly, as the light from the cancelli showed the weariness and distress that had begun to make inroads on the animation of the girl's beauty.

From The City of Delight A Love Drama of the Siege and Fall of Jerusalem by Leyendecker, Frank X.