Online Etymology Dictionary

cancelation: also cancellation, 1530s, from L. cancellationem, noun of action from pp. stem of cancellare "to cancel" (see cancel). Of reservations for conveyances, hotels, etc., from 1953.
cancel: late 14c., "cross out with lines," from Anglo-Fr. canceler, from L. cancellare "to make resemble a lattice," which in L.L. took on a sense "cross out something written" by marking it with crossed lines, from cancelli, pl. of cancellus "lattice, grating," dim. of cancer "crossed bars, lattice," a var. of carcer "prison." Figurative use, "to nullify an obligation" is from mid-15c. Related: Canceled (also cancelled); cancelling.
pre-empt (v.): also preempt, 1855, back formation from pre-emption, originally Amer.Eng. In the broascasting sense, it is attested from 1965, Amer.Eng., a euphemism for "cancel." Related: pre-empted; preempted.
chancel: c.1300, from O.Fr. chancel, from L.L. cancellus "lattice," from L. cancelli (pl.) "grating, bars" (see cancel); so called for the lattice-work that separated the chancel from the nave in a church.
scrub (v.): "rub hard," c.1300, perhaps from M.Du. or M.L.G. schrubben "to scrub," or from an unrecorded O.E. cognate, or from a Scandinavian source (cf. Dan. skrubbe "to scrub"), probably ultimately from some cognate of shrub, used as a cleaning tool (cf. the evolution of broom, brush). Meaning "to cancel" is attested from 1828 (popularized during World War II with reference to flights), probably from notion of "to rub out, erase." The noun is recorded from 1620s.
retraction: late 14c., from L. retractionem (nom. retractio), from L. retractus, pp. of retractare "revoke, cancel," from re- "back" + tractere "draw violently," frequentative of trahere "to draw" (see tract (1)). Originally the title of a book by St. Augustine, correcting his former writings. Meaning "recantation of opinion with admission of error" is from 1540s.
resign: late 14c., from O.Fr. resigner, from L. resignare "to check off, cancel, give up," from re- "opposite" + signare "to make an entry in an account book," lit. "to mark" (see sign). The sense is of making an entry (signum) "opposite" -- on the credit side -- balancing the former mark and thus canceling the claim it represents. The meaning of "give up a position" is first recorded late 14c. Sense of "to give (oneself) up to some emotion or situation" is from 1718.
cross (n.): O.E. cros (mid-10c.), from O.Ir. cros, probably via Scandinavian, from L. crux (acc. crucem, gen. crucis) "stake, cross" on which criminals were impaled or hanged, hence, figuratively, "torture, trouble, misery;" originally a tall, round pole; possibly of Phoenician origin. Replaced O.E. rood. As a verb, from c.1200, "make the sign of a cross;" sense of "to go across" is from c.1400; that of "to cancel by drawing lines over" is from mid-15c. Also from L. crux are It. croce, Fr. croix, Sp., Port. cruz, Du. kruis, Ger. Kreuz.
wash (v.): O.E. wascan, wæscan, from P.Gmc. *watskanan (cf. O.N. vaska, M.Du. wasscen, Du. wassen, Ger. waschen), from stem *wat-, the source of water. Used mainly of clothes in O.E. (the principal verb for washing the body, dishes, etc. being þwean). Verbal phrase wash out "obliterate, cancel" is attested from 1580; hence colloquial sense of "to call off (an event) due to bad weather, etc.;" the noun sense of "disappointing failure" is recorded from 1902. Washed-out "faded" is from 1837; washed up is 1923 theater slang, from notion of washing up one's hands at the end of a job.
strike (v.): O.E. strican "pass over lightly, stroke, smooth, rub," also "go, proceed" (past tense strac, pp. stricen), from P.Gmc. *strik- (cf. O.N. strykva "to stroke," O.Fris. strika, M.Du. streken, Du. strikjen "to smooth, stroke, rub," O.H.G. strihhan, Ger. streichen), from PIE base *str(e)ig- "to stroke, rub, press" (see strigil). Related to streak and stroke, and perhaps influenced in sense development by cognate O.N. striuka. Sense of "to deal a blow" developed by early 14c.; meaning "to collide" is from mid-14c.; that of "to hit with a missile" is from late 14c. Meaning "to cancel or expunge" (as with the stroke of a pen) is attested from late 14c. An older sense is preserved in strike for "go toward."
scratch (v.): late 15c., probably a fusion of M.E. scratten and crachen, both meaning "to scratch," both of uncertain origin. The noun is attested from 1586; slang sense of "money" is from 1914, of uncertain signification. Many figurative senses (e.g. up to scratch) are from sporting use for "line or mark drawn as a starting place," attested from 1778 (but the earliest use is figurative); meaning "nothing" (in from scratch) is 1922, also from sporting sense of "starting point of a competitor who receives no odds in a handicap match." Billiards sense of "to hit the cue ball into a pocket" is first recorded 1909 (also, originally, itch), though earlier it meant "a lucky shot" (1850). Verb meaning "to withdraw (a horse) from a race" is 1865, from notion of scratching name off list of competitors; used in a non-sporting sense of "cancel a plan, etc." from 1680s.