What is the meaning of Chancel?

The space around the altar in a church or cathedral, often enclosed, for use by the clergy and the choir. In medieval cathedrals the chancel was usually enclosed or blocked off from the nave by an altar screen.

The entire end of the church in which the altar stands, including the apse and the ambulatory.

A certain central portion of that end of the church, excluding the apse and the ambulatory.