The act of stopping something that was planned or scheduled from happening.
From Medieval Latin 'cancellare' meaning 'to cross out with lines' (from 'cancelli,' the metal grating in Roman churches), and French 'cancellation.' The image of crossing something out with lines gave rise to the meaning of nullifying or ending something.
The ancient Romans literally crossed out decisions on wax tablets with a lattice pattern (cancelli), which is why we still use the X symbol to cancel things today—that symbol is basically a 2,000-year-old habit.
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