American English spelling of the past tense of cancel; British English uses 'cancelled' with double-l.
From Late Latin cancellare meaning to cross out with lines, from cancelli (lattice or grating). The image is of drawing lines through something to mark it as void.
The original meaning of 'cancel' is literally to draw a lattice or grid over something to mark it as invalid—old documents were 'canceled' by literally drawing lines through them in a crisscross pattern, which is where the X means 'cancelled' comes from.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.