cancel

Meaning

Verb

1. (transitive) To cross out something with lines etc.
2. (transitive) To invalidate or annul something.
3. (transitive) To mark something (such as a used postage stamp) so that it can't be reused.
4. (transitive) To offset or equalize something.
5. (transitive) To remove a common factor from both the numerator and denominator of a fraction, or from both sides of an equation.
6. (transitive) To stop production of a programme.
7. (dated) To suppress or omit; to strike out, as matter in type.
8. (obsolete) To shut out, as with a railing or with latticework; to exclude.
9. (slang) To kill.
10. (neologism, transitive) To cease to provide financial or moral support to (someone deemed unacceptable); to disinvite. Compare cancel culture.

Noun

1. (US) A cancellation.
2. (US) A cancellation.
3. (obsolete) An enclosure; a boundary; a limit.
4. The suppression on striking out of matter in type, or of a printed page or pages.
5. The page thus suppressed.
6. The page that replaces it.

Synonyms

annul

revoke

abolish

repeal

abrogate

call off

erase

nullify

delete

remit

invalidate

cross out

withdraw

rescind

abjure

cancellation

countermand

stop

🛑

void

abort

strike out

obliterate

reverse

write off

retract

recall

offset

neutralize

abate

dissolve

drop

overrule

cease

cancelation

disannul

quit

overturn

undo

negate

suppress

scrub

terminate

wipe out

eliminate

give up

quash

do away with

discontinue

renege on

recant

Translations

annuler

annullare

cancelar

anular

ακυρώνω

cancelar

cancellare

annullieren

annuleren

résilier

διαγράφω

aufheben

streichen

anular

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈkæn.sl̩/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: cancellen

Cognate with French: chanceler

In summary

From Middle English cancellen, from Anglo-Norman canceler (“to cross out with lines”) (modern French chanceler (“to stagger, sway”)), from Old French canceler, from Latin cancellō (“to make resemble a lattice”), from cancellus (“a railing or lattice”), diminutive of cancer (“a lattice”).