Can-can, kan-kan, n. a dance in some public balls at Paris and elsewhere, characterised by immodest gestures and postures. [Usually referred to L. quamquam, the pronunciation of which was long hotly disputed in the French schools; Littré quotes an O. Fr. caquehan, a noisy assembly.]
Cancel, kan′sel, v.t. to erase or blot out by crossing with lines: to annul or suppress, as a printed page, &c.: to obliterate: to frustrate: to counterbalance or compensate for: to remove equivalent quantities on opposite sides of an equation:—pr.p. can′celling; pa.p. can′celled.—n. the suppression of a printed page or sheet, the page so cancelled, or the new one substituted. [Fr. canceller—L. cancell-āre, from cancelli, railings, lattice-work, dim. of cancer.]
Cancelli, kan-sel′ī, n.pl. cross-pieces forming a lattice-work or grating, as in the division between the choir and the body of a church: (anat.) reticulations.—adjs. Can′cellate, -d, marked latticewise, reticulated.—n. Cancellā′tion.—adj. Can′cellous. [L., a lattice.]
Cancer, kan′sėr, n. the name for an important group of malignant tumours, divided into two groups, Carcinomata and Sarcomata, the name being now strictly used only of the former: a constellation between Gemini and Leo, and a sign of the zodiac showing the limits of the sun's course northward in summer: the typical genus of the family Cancridæ—v.i. Cancer′ate, to become cancerous.—ns. Cancerā′tion; Can′cerite, a petrified crab.—adj. Can′cerous, of or like a cancer.—adv. Can′cerously.—n. Can′cerousness.—adjs. Can′criform, Can′croid, crab-like. [L. cancer; cog. with Gr. karkinos, a crab.]
Cancionero, kan-thē-on-ē′ro, n. a collection of songs. [Sp.]
Candelabrum, kan-de-lā′brum, n. a branched and ornamented candlestick:—pl. Candelā′bra. [L.]
Candent, kan′dent, adj. making white: glowing with heat.
Candescence, kan-des′ens, n. a white heat.—adj. Candes′cent. [L. candesc-ĕre, inceptive of cand-ēre, to glow.]
Candid, kan′did, adj. frank, ingenuous: free from prejudice: fair, impartial.—adv. Can′didly.—n. Can′didness. [Fr. candide—L. candidus, white—cand-ēre, to shine.]
Candidate, kan′di-dāt, n. one who offers himself for any office or honour, so called because, at Rome, the applicant used to dress in white.—ns. Can′didature, Can′didateship, Can′didacy. [L. candidatus, from candidus.]