canon

Pluralcanons

1. 1
   classic worksnouncountable or uncountable

   The body of works accepted as the most important in a field, or as genuinely written by a particular author.

   Critics have argued for decades over which novels belong in the canon.

   The canons of philosophy and of literature overlap more than students expect.

   UsageUsually the canon; for one writer, the Shakespeare canon. Not to be confused with cannon, the gun.

   Note

   With the definite article, the canon sounds singular and settled, the shelf an educated reader is expected to know; a set like Great Books of the Western World sells it by the volume. Each field keeps its own, as in William Styron's "durable canon of American short fiction." Said of one writer, as in the Shakespeare canon, it asks a different question: not what deserves to be read but who wrote what. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

   • Great Books of the Western World is a published multivolume selection of the Western canon. en.wikipedia.org
   • William Styron used the phrase "durable canon of American short fiction." en.wiktionary.org
   • An author's canon, including Shakespeare's, concerns works accepted as authentically theirs. en.wiktionary.org
2. 2
   official storylinenounslanguncountable

   The works accepted as part of the official storyline of a fictional universe, and by extension the events and facts they contain.

   The comics were never treated as canon by the people who made the films.

   According to canon, the two characters never actually meet.

   UsageCommon phrases: according to canon, in canon, part of canon.

   Note

   After a linking verb, as in "this is not canon," the noun is hard to tell from the clipped adjective. A crossover shows the noun plainly: Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars (2014), a one-hour episode retelling the 1977 film, sits outside the Star Wars canon. Source

   Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

   • Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars debuted in 2014. d23.com
   • The special is a one-hour crossover episode. en.wikipedia.org
   • The episode retells the original Star Wars film, released in 1977. en.wikipedia.org
   • The episode is outside the Star Wars canon. geekdad.com
3. 3
   cathedral priestnouncountable

   A member of the clergy attached to a cathedral or collegiate church.

   The canons gathered in the chapter house to elect a new dean.

   As a canon of the cathedral, he preached there several times a year.

   UsageAs a title before a name: Canon Smith.

   Note

   The title goes with a post at a cathedral or collegiate church; it is not membership of an order, which is the canon regular. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • A canon in this sense holds a position associated with a cathedral or collegiate church. en.wikipedia.org
   • Secular canons are distinguished from canons regular, who belong to religious communities or orders. en.wikipedia.org
4. 4
   church lawnouncountable or uncountable

   A law laid down by a church, or the body of church law as a whole.

   Under canon law, the case went to a church court rather than a civil one.

   The council issued a canon forbidding the sale of church offices.

   UsageMost often in canon law.

   Similardecree, ordinance, law

5. 5
   nouncountable

   The collection of writings that a religion recognizes as authentic, authoritative scripture, such as the books of the Bible.

   The Protestant canon of the Old Testament leaves out several books that Catholic Bibles include.

   Scholars still debate when the Hebrew canon of scripture was finally closed.

   Note

   Greek kanṓn was a measuring rod, so the canon of scripture is the set of books that measured up. Churches have drawn that line differently, which is why Catholic and Protestant Old Testaments differ in length. Books left outside are called noncanonical or apocryphal, and the literary sense of a body of accepted classics borrows its air of authority from this one. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

   • Ancient Greek kanṓn meant a measuring rod. en.wiktionary.org
   • A scriptural canon comprises books regarded as conforming to a standard. katapi.org.uk
   • Churches recognize different scriptural canons, producing differences between Catholic and Protestant Old Testaments. en.wikipedia.org
   • Religious writings excluded from an accepted scriptural canon are described as noncanonical or apocryphal. en.wikipedia.org
   • The literary sense of canon extends the scriptural sense and its implication of authority. en.wikipedia.org
6. 6
   general principlenouncountable or uncountable

   An accepted rule, principle, or standard, or a set of these, governing judgment, conduct, or artistic practice.

   Her design broke every canon of classical architecture.

   The canons of scientific method demand that results be repeatable.

   UsageOften plural with of: the canons of taste, the canons of good conduct.

   Similarrule, principle, standard, norm, criterion

   Note

   Shakespeare's Hamlet wishes the Everlasting had not fixed "His canon 'gainst self-slaughter," a rule laid down from above. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Shakespeare wrote Hamlet. folger.edu
   • Hamlet is the speaker who wishes the Everlasting had not established a rule against suicide; the quoted wording is accurate. folger.edu
7. 7
   musical roundnouncountable or uncountable

   A musical piece in which several voices perform the same melody, each entering at a different time, as in a round.

   The string quartet opened the concert with a canon by a baroque composer.

   Composition students learn to write canons by working out how a melody fits against itself.

8. 8
   big gunnounnonstandard

   A common misspelling of cannon, the weapon; an accepted spelling only in older texts.

   Note

   An old spelling of the gun that did not last: the weapon settled as cannon, and the single-n form in modern writing is read as a misspelling. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Canon was historically an alternative spelling of cannon, the weapon, and that spelling is now obsolete. en.wiktionary.org
   • Cannon became the settled spelling for the weapon. en.wiktionary.org
9. 9
   adjectiveslangabbreviationclipping

   Short for canonical. Officially part of the storyline of a fictional world, as its creators accept it.

   The novel's ending is canon; the show's is not.

   Only material the studio approves is considered canon.

   UsageMostly after a verb: is canon, considered canon; the opposite is non-canon.

   Oppositenon-canon

   Note

   Of the longer word's meanings it keeps only one, being part of a story's official storyline.

10. 10
    religious order membernouncountable

    A member of any of several Roman Catholic religious orders, known as a canon regular.

    The canons regular of the order ran hospitals and parishes across the region.

    He entered the order as a young man and remained a canon there for fifty years.

    UsageThe plural keeps the word order: canons regular.

    Note

    In speech the second word is often dropped, so a member of an order and the cathedral cleric share one short title. Source

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Members of the religious orders concerned are canons regular, also called canons. en.wikipedia.org
    • A cathedral cleric and a canon regular share the title canon. en.wikipedia.org

Showing meanings only. Show all 16