Etymology 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”).
A deed may be avoided by delivering it up to be cancelled; that is, to have lines drawn over it in the form of latticework or cancelli; the phrase is now used figuratively for any manner of obliterating or defacing it.1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, (please specify |book=I to IV), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC:
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To invalidate or annul something.
He cancelled his order on their website.
"I don't know what your agreement was, Herr Professor, but if it had money in it, cancel it. I want him to learn that lesson, too."1914, Marjorie Benton Cooke, Bambi:
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These also included not canceling the Christmas display, whose kitschiness drove him bonkers but which endured because people love it and because he is a populist and showman, despite his elitist veneer, and because he has a heart.2008 January 9, Michael Kimmelman, “The Legacy of a Pragmatic Custodian of Human Civilization”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 14 Mar 2018:
AUKUS envisages a wide range of diplomatic and technological collaboration, from cybersecurity to artificial intelligence, but at its core is an agreement to start consultations to help Australia acquire a fleet of nuclear-propelled (though not nuclear-armed) submarines. One consequence of this is Australia cancelling a contract, worth tens of billions of dollars, signed in 2016 with France for diesel-electric submarines. In announcing AUKUS on September 15th with the prime ministers of Australia and Britain, Scott Morrison and Boris Johnson, President Joe Biden stressed that it was about “investing in our greatest source of strength—our alliances”.2021 September 19, “The strategic reverberations of the AUKUS deal will be big and lasting”, in The Economist, archived from the original on 25 Oct 2021:
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To mark something (such as a used postage stamp) so that it can't be reused.
This machine cancels the letters that have a valid zip code.
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To offset or equalize something.
The corrective feedback mechanism cancels out the noise.
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Mathematics, Sciences To remove a common factor from both the numerator and denominator of a fraction, or from both sides of an equation.
Such a 2-handle cancels the 1-handle so the manifold is D⁴.2003, Gordana Matić, Clint McCrory, Topology and geometry of manifolds, →ISBN, page 182:
Obsolete To shut out, as with a railing or with latticework; to exclude.
cancelled from heaven1667, John Milton, “Book VI”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
Neologism To cease to provide financial or moral support to (someone deemed unacceptable); to disinvite. Compare cancel culture.
Bill Gates is canceled. Gwen Stefani and Erykah Badu are canceled. Despite his relatively strong play in the World Cup, Cristiano Ronaldo has been canceled. Taylor Swift is canceled and Common is canceled and, Wednesday, Antoni Porowski, a “Queer Eye” fan favorite was also canceled. Needless to say, Kanye West is canceled, too.2018 June 28, Jonah Engel Bromwich, “Everyone Is Canceled”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 20 Apr 2020:
We Spoke to Joan Cornellá, the Artist Who Really Should Have Been Cancelled By Now [title]2019 May 17, Christopher Hooton, “We Spoke to Joan Cornellá, the Artist Who Really Should Have Been Cancelled By Now”, in VICE, archived from the original on 19 Aug 2024:
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You may have never heard the term "cancel culture," but you certainly know some of the faces who have been canceled. Everyone from Cosby to Matt Lauer. […] "Some of my friends – I don't hang out with as much," said Jazz Moore. “I try to talk to them and explain why their behavior isn't cool before I cancel them."2020 February 5, Russell Haythorn, “An explanation of ‘cancel culture’ and why it's become such a popular phenomenon”, in The Denver Channel, archived from the original on 15 Jul 2023:
To attempt to cancel the founding generation is an attempt to cancel our own freedoms.2020 July 3, Kristi Noem speech at Mount Rushmore, C-SPAN:
So this is my answer: If I am being canceled, I want my friends — and this includes not only my closest associates but any people who consider themselves friendly to me — to stand by, remain silent and do nothing. If you care about me, let them eat me alive.2022 June 21, Agnes Callard, “If I Get Canceled, Let Them Eat Me Alive”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 20 Jul 2022:
Etymology 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”).
A prison is but a retirement, and opportunity of serious thoughts, to a person whose spirit[…]desires no enlargement beyond the cancels of the body.1678, Antiquitates Christianæ: Or, the History of the Life and Death of the Holy Jesus: […], London: […] E. Flesher, and R. Norton, for R[ichard] Royston, […], →OCLC:
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Media, Printing, Publishing The suppression on striking out of matter in type, or of a printed page or pages.