chancel

C2+ Topic:General Vocabulary

US /ˈtʃænsəl/ UK /ˈtʃɑːnsəl/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
the part of a church near the altar, reserved for clergy and choir

Candlelight flickered across the carved screen of the chancel.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the part of a church near... sanctuary presbytery

Opposites

nave

Word family

Related forms chancery chancellor cancel

Etymology

From Old French chancel, from Late Latin cancellus ('lattice, screen'; the chancel was screened off by a lattice), from Latin cancelli ('crossbars, grating').

cancellus Latin cancelli Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# chancel

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈtʃænsəl/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈtʃɑːnsəl/

## Meanings
1. the part of a church near the altar, reserved for clergy and choir

## Examples
- Candlelight flickered across the carved screen of the chancel.

## Synonyms
- sanctuary
- presbytery

## Antonyms
- nave

## Related Forms
- chancery
- chancellor
- cancel

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: cancellus
- Root: cancelli

## Etymology
From Old French chancel, from Late Latin cancellus ('lattice, screen'; the chancel was screened off by a lattice), from Latin cancelli ('crossbars, grating').

## AI Etymology
Chancel comes from Old French chancel, from Late Latin cancellus ('lattice, screen'; the chancel was screened off by a lattice), from Latin cancelli ('crossbars, grating'). The historical trail runs through cancellus in Latin and cancelli in Latin. Used as a noun, chancel now means "the part of a church near the altar, reserved for clergy and choir", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in related forms such as chancery, chancellor, and cancel. The result is a borrowed or transmitted form whose modern spelling carries a compact record of its route into English.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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