What word would best be used to describe an entity that "cancels" something?

Question

I am writing some code for an application that initiates an asynchronous action and returns an object that can be used to cancel the action before completion.

However, I am having difficulty naming this object. Basically I need a word that means "that which cancels". "Cancellor" doesn't seem to be a word. "Terminator" may be suitable in theory but I would prefer an alternative if one exists.

Does anyone know of such a word?

Canceller is hardly ever used in the context of processes/ tasks. — Kris, Feb 06 '13 at 06:49
How about abrogator -- you'd have to create the word, but that's no problem -- or nullifier? — , Feb 06 '13 at 08:13

Patrick T. Randolph · Answer 1 · 2013-02-06T06:27:29.320

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What about the word "negator"? That one should work rather nicely for your purposes.

edited Feb 06 '13 at 06:27

answered Feb 06 '13 at 06:00

Patrick T. Randolph

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Doesn't that mean "to make ineffective?" That doesn't really match what the object's intended purpose is - it exists to terminate the action. – George Edison Feb 06 '13 at 06:33

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 06 '13 at 06:45

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You cancel an action before its commencement — you terminate an action before its completion. The right term would be terminator.

A terminator allows you to close a running process. Also called process killer or task killer.

answered Feb 06 '13 at 06:45

Kris

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score 0 · Answer 3 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:38

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Per my comment to the (wrongly, imho) accepted answer...

I used to produce/supply/document bus ticket analysis software. Most on-bus electronic ticket recording systems support a ticket cancellation transaction which is usually paired up with an earlier ticket issue. I always referred to such pairs as cancellor / cancellee because -or/-ee is far more dedicated to the agent / thing acted upon distinction than -er / -ed.

As RegDwight points out in this answer to an earlier (possibly duplicate) question, there are many words where both forms are perfectly common. You could say Brits still favour adviser and convener over the -or versions more than Americans, but you've only to look at this chart to see we're all moving strongly towards -or.

Therefore I would unhesitatingly recommend cancellor in OP's context, if he uses cancel in other documentation / variable names relating to the specific operation / computer code involved. Only in the (unlikely) event the documentation refers to the possibility of terminating (as opposed to cancelling) the operation should he opt for terminator.

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:38

Community

1

answered Feb 06 '13 at 18:18

FumbleFingers

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My God, it's fun to watch the horses being flogged around here. (It's enlightening to see what counts as a "possible duplicate" too.) What about the "evidence" presented by this chart? http://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=canceller%2Ccancellor&year_start=1900&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share= It's dubious evidence of anything if you ask me. – Canis Lupus Feb 06 '13 at 19:34
@Jim: I'm not sure I see your point. Horse flogging implies this particular question has been "done to death", so why would it not be sensible to consider it in the light of an earlier question covering the same ground from a more general perspective? Currently, the only vote on this page (not mine) is a downvote for canceller. Oh, and a closevote for Off Topic, which I don't understand. I'm aware that canceller is currently more common than cancellor - but as I implied, that's moving against the trend, and I don't think things will stay that way if/as we use the word/s more often. – FumbleFingers Feb 06 '13 at 21:55

Canis Lupus · Accepted Answer · 2013-02-06T05:37:40.713

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Canceller. (Check your spelling.)

edited Feb 06 '13 at 05:37

answered Feb 06 '13 at 05:29

Canis Lupus

22,017

Oh, that was a silly mistake to make. "Canceller" will work then. Thank you! – George Edison Feb 06 '13 at 05:36
I used to produce/supply/document bus ticket analysis software. Most on-bus electronic ticket recording systems support a ticket cancellation transaction which is usually paired up with an earlier ticket issue. I specifically chose to refer to such pairs as *cancellor / cancellee on the grounds that -or/-ee is far more dedicated to the agent / thing acted upon distinction that -er / -ed. In short, I don't think it's defensible to suggest OP's cancellor was just a spelling mistake. – FumbleFingers Feb 06 '13 at 17:59
No, that wasn't my intent. It just seemed odd that he didn't find it if he had looked it up. I did my own search and -or didn't show up, but -er did. Also, the fact that I design "cancellers" for a living gave me a sense of being an authority, at least in regard to the usage of the term. Seeing it as -or would only perturb me as much as seeing colour instead of color. If it's during a personal interaction, then at that point, I might see a cultural difference that can add an interesting and enjoyable dimension to the conversation. – Canis Lupus Feb 06 '13 at 18:18

What word would best be used to describe an entity that "cancels" something?

4 Answers4