# canon

Pronunciation: US say "KAN-uhn" /ˈkæn.ən/; UK

## Noun

1. The body of works accepted as the most important in a field, or as genuinely written by a particular author.
   - Simple: The set of works accepted as the most important in a field, or as truly written by one 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._
2. The works accepted as part of the official storyline of a fictional universe, and by extension the events and facts they contain. *(slang)*
   - Simple: In fan talk, the official stories of a fictional world and what happens in them.
   - _The comics were never treated as canon by the people who made the films._
   - _According to canon, the two characters never actually meet._
3. A member of the clergy attached to a cathedral or collegiate church.
   - Simple: A member of the clergy who serves at a cathedral or a similar large 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._
4. A law laid down by a church, or the body of church law as a whole.
   - Simple: A law made by a church, or all of a church's laws together.
   - _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._
5. The collection of writings that a religion recognizes as authentic, authoritative scripture, such as the books of the Bible.
   - Simple: The group of holy books that a religion accepts as real and official, 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._
6. An accepted rule, principle, or standard, or a set of these, governing judgment, conduct, or artistic practice.
   - Simple: An accepted rule or set of rules about how something should be done or judged.
   - _Her design broke every canon of classical architecture._
   - _The canons of scientific method demand that results be repeatable._
7. A musical piece in which several voices perform the same melody, each entering at a different time, as in a round.
   - Simple: A piece of music where different voices sing or play the same tune, each one starting after the last.
   - _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. A common misspelling of cannon, the weapon; an accepted spelling only in older texts. *(nonstandard)* — Alternative spelling of cannon (“weapon”).
   - Simple: A wrong spelling of cannon, the big gun. It was correct long ago but is a mistake now.
10. A member of any of several Roman Catholic religious orders, known as a canon regular.
   - Simple: Someone who belongs to one of several Roman Catholic religious orders and is called 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._
11. A eucharistic prayer, especially the one known as the Roman Canon.
   - Simple: The main prayer the priest says at Mass or a Communion service, especially the one known as the Roman Canon.
   - _The congregation fell silent as the priest began the canon._
   - _Several canons are now in use, and the choice of one shapes the length of the Mass._
12. The official list of saints recognized and canonized by the Roman Catholic Church.
   - Simple: The official list of people the Roman Catholic Church has named as saints.
   - _Admission to the canon follows a long inquiry into the person's life._
   - _The village honored the old hermit for centuries, though Rome never placed him in the canon of saints._
13. In monasteries, the book containing a religious order's rules.
   - Simple: In a monastery, the book that holds the rules of the religious order.
14. The ear or shank at the top of a bell, the part by which it is hung.
   - Simple: The loop or handle at the top of a bell that it hangs from.
   - _Old bells were hung by their canons, cast as loops on the crown._
   - _The founder shaped the canon so that the bell could be bolted to its headstock._
16. In Roman law, a fixed payment due at a regular interval, usually yearly, such as the rent on public land or the grain levy called canon frumentarius.
   - Simple: In ancient Roman law, a rent or payment that had to be made at a regular time, usually once a year.
   - _Tenants of imperial estates owed a yearly canon in grain or coin._
   - _Records list the canons owed by each estate and the dates on which they fell due._

## Adjective

9. Short for canonical. Officially part of the storyline of a fictional world, as its creators accept it. *(slang)* — Clipping of canonical.
   - Simple: Short for canonical. Fans use it to mean officially part of a fictional world's story.
   - _The novel's ending is canon; the show's is not._
   - _Only material the studio approves is considered canon._

## Noun

15. A large type size, standardized at 48 points, that was once used for printing church canons. *(dated)*
   - Simple: A large size of printing type, once used to print church rules, equal to 48-point.
   - _The printer set the title in canon so that it would stand out boldly above the smaller text below._
   - _Before type sizes were given in points, printers knew one of their largest sizes as canon._

## Origin

**Meanings 1–2, 4–7, 11–16** — Ancient Greek κανών (kanṓn, "measuring rod, standard") is akin to κάννα (kánna, "reed"), from a Semitic source (compare Hebrew קָנֶה (qane) and Arabic قَنَاة (qanāh), both meaning "reed"). Latin took the Greek word as canōn, which passed into both Old French and Old English as canon and then into Middle English as canoun. It is a doublet of qanun. Compare also cane, cannon, canyon, and canal.
**Meanings 3, 10** — Latin canonicus is the ultimate source of Middle English canoun. It arrived either through Old Northern French canoine or from Old English canonic, through shortening or back-formation.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/canon (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).