cancellation
Meaning
the act of cancelling something
a mark made on a postage stamp to show it has been used
Structure
Usage
The airline notified us of the flight cancellation due to bad weather.
There is a 24-hour free cancellation policy for this hotel booking.
The cancellation on the old stamp made it a less valuable collector's item.
Etymology
The word 'cancellation' originates from the Latin verb cancellare, meaning 'to make like a lattice' or 'to cross out with lines'. This verb itself derives from cancelli, meaning 'lattice' or 'bars', suggesting the visual act of crossing something out resembles drawing a grid or bars over it. The suffix '-lation' is a nominalizing element from Latin, indicating the action or result of the verb. Thus, the literal progression from the concrete image of drawing lines through a lattice to the modern abstract meaning of 'the act of making something void or invalid' is clearly preserved.
Analysis
cancel (from Latin cancellare, 'to make like a lattice, to cross out'), lation (a suffix forming nouns of action from Latin -latio(n-), from the past participle stem -lat- of verbs ending in -lare).