cancellus
Americannoun
-
(in an early Christian basilica) one of a row of bars separating the clergy and sometimes the choir from the congregation.
-
(in an ancient Roman basilica) one of a row of bars separating the court personnel from the spectators.
-
cancelli, a screen of such bars.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of cancellus
< Latin, equivalent to canc ( rī ) grating (plural of cancer, apparently dissimilated form of carcer prison) + -ellus diminutive suffix
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
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
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
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
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
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 ordinary screen or cancelli, from which is derived our word "chancel" for the space thus enclosed, was a low wall.
From The Ground Plan of the English Parish Church by Thompson, A. Hamilton (Alexander Hamilton)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
