canon
Pluralcanons
Often confused with cannon
Pluralcanons
- 1The set of works accepted as the most important in a field, or as truly written by one author.
Her English class read only books from the canon.
Some teachers want to add more women writers to the canon.
UsageDon't mix up canon (accepted works) with cannon (a big gun).
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- 2In fan talk, the official stories of a fictional world and what happens in them.
In canon, the hero grew up on a farm, but many fan stories change that.
Fans argued about whether the new show counted as canon.
UsageOften used in according to canon or part of canon.
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- 3A member of the clergy who serves at a cathedral or a similar large church.
The canon led the evening service at the cathedral.
She was made a canon after twenty years of work for the church.
UsageUsed as a title: Canon Smith.
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- 4
- 5The group of holy books that a religion accepts as real and official, such as the books of the Bible.
Some early Christian writings were never added to the canon of the Bible.
Our pastor explained why a few old gospels are not part of the canon.
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- 6
- 7A piece of music where different voices sing or play the same tune, each one starting after the last.
The choir sang a simple canon, with the second group starting two beats later.
We learned a canon in music class and sang it in three parts.
- 8A wrong spelling of cannon, the big gun. It was correct long ago but is a mistake now.
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- 9
- 10Someone who belongs to one of several Roman Catholic religious orders and is called a canon regular.
The canons of the abbey rose before dawn to sing the morning prayers.
A canon from the nearby priory came to teach at the school.
UsagePlural: canons regular.
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Less common meanings
- 11The main prayer the priest says at Mass or a Communion service, especially the one known as the Roman Canon.
The priest read the canon slowly while the people knelt.
In the old service, the canon was said quietly in Latin.
- 12The official list of people the Roman Catholic Church has named as saints.
The pope added two new saints to the canon last year.
Every saint in the canon has a special day in the church year.
- 13In a monastery, the book that holds the rules of the religious order.
- 14The loop or handle at the top of a bell that it hangs from.
The bell's canon cracked, and the bell fell from the tower.
Workers tied a rope through the canon to lift the bell into place.
- 15A large size of printing type, once used to print church rules, equal to 48-point.
The title was set in canon, and the rest of the page in a much smaller type.
Old printers kept a case of canon for posters and title pages.
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- 16In ancient Roman law, a rent or payment that had to be made at a regular time, usually once a year.
Farmers on public land paid a canon to the state each year.
The canon was due at harvest time, and late payment brought a fine.
Similarrent
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Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origins
It comes through Latin from a Greek word meaning "measuring rod" or "standard".
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Canon comes through Latin from Greek. en.wiktionary.org
- The Greek source word means measuring rod or standard. en.wiktionary.org
It comes from Middle English canoun, from the Latin word canonicus.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Canon derives from Middle English canoun and ultimately from Latin canonicus. en.wiktionary.org