Where does “chancel” come from?
Chancel comes from Old French chancel, from Latin cancellus, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European (s)ker- meaning to cut or separate, referring originally to a latticed screen dividing a church.
chancel (English): The space around the altar in a church, often...
Definitions
- The space around the altar in a church, often...
Ancestry of “chancel”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old French | chancel | chancel |
| 2 | Latin | cancellus | one of the bars which, in the form of a grid,... |
| 3 | Latin | cancer | a crab; a tumor, cancer; a lattice, grid, or... |
| 4 | Proto-Italic | kankros | crab |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | karkros | enclosure, barrier |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | kr̥-kr̥- | circular |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)ker- | to cut off; to turn, bend |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | sek- | to cut, cut off, sever |