ancilla

American  

[an-sil-uh] / ænˈsɪl ə /

noun

plural

ancillas

1. an accessory; auxiliary or adjunct.

2. Archaic. a maidservant.

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Etymology

Origin of ancilla

First recorded in 1870–75; from Latin: literally, “handmaid,” diminutive of ancula “maid,” from unrecorded anquola, equivalent to an-, a variant of ambi- “around” + -quola, noun derivative of the root kwel-, kwol- “turn about,” hence “one who circles around”; cognate with Greek amphípolos “attendant”; ambi-, amphi-, ancile

Example Sentences

So researchers interleave the data qubits with so-called ancillary qubits and establish a quantum link called entanglement between each ancilla and its neighbors.

From Science Magazine • Jul. 14, 2021

For example, if the measurement shows the first ancilla is 0, it reveals only that the first and second coding qubits must be in the same state, but not which state that is.

From Science Magazine • Jul. 9, 2020

If the ancilla is 1, then the measurement reveals only that the coding qubits must be in opposite states.

From Science Magazine • Jul. 9, 2020

Quantum error correction proceeds by non-destructively measuring these parity checks using ancilla qubits.

From Nature • Sep. 12, 2017

Si generosa ancilla tuos aut alma puella Visura est ludos, annue, pande lubens.

From The Anatomy of Melancholy by Burton, Robert