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

Then the night-wind, rising from the sea, swept in through the cancelli with a shriek, put out the lamp instantly and swept the long dragging curtain against the Herod standing in the dimly-illuminated corridor.

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

A Chancellor was originally a man in charge of a chancel, or grating, Lat. cancelli.

From The Romance of Names by Weekley, Ernest

After the first gust, the wind dropped, sending long streams of impelling draft through cancelli, doorway and hall.

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

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

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