Cancellate

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Marked by a design that consists of intersecting lines forming a complex pattern
2. Describing a texture that features a network of crossed lines, reminiscent of a grid or mesh
3. Characterized by a surface adorned with a pattern of crisscrossed lines that create an intricate visual effect

Etymology: "Cancellate" comes from Latin "cancellatus," the past participle of "cancellare," a verb meaning to make a lattice or to cross-bar something. The Latin verb is itself rooted in "cancelli," meaning crossed bars or a railing, the kind used to fence off an enclosure or screen a space. That literal sense of a grid of crossing bars is what the English adjective carries into its description of surfaces marked by intersecting lines. The clearest trace of the original idea survives in the same Latin family. Roman writers used "cancelli" for latticed barriers, and a related English word, "chancel," names the part of a church set apart by such a screen around the altar. The shared image is simple: a space divided off by crossing bars, whether a sanctuary fence or a pattern etched across a surface.