# canonical

Pronunciation: say "kuh-NON-i-kuhl" US /kəˈnɑ.nɪ.kəl/, UK /kəˈnɒn.ɪ.kəl/, AUS /kəˈnɔn.ɪ.kəl/

## Adjective

1. Belonging to a canon, whether the accepted books of a scripture or any other recognized body of works.
   - Simple: Included in an official, accepted list of holy books or of other writings.
   - _Scholars still debate why several early gospels were never accepted as canonical._
   - _The syllabus sticks to canonical novels and leaves little room for newer writers._
2. Being the typical or classic example of its kind.
   - Simple: Being the most typical example of something.
   - _The 1929 crash remains the canonical example of a speculative bubble bursting._
   - _Her garage startup has become the canonical story told to new founders._
3. Belonging to or related to the official canon of a fictional universe. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Part of the official story of a made-up world, like a TV series or a book series.
   - _Is it canonical that those two characters are siblings, or is that just a fan theory?_
   - _The new movie makes an old comic-book storyline canonical at last._
4. Following the recognized or orthodox rules.
   - Simple: Done by the usual rules that everyone accepts.
   - _Purists insist on the canonical way of making carbonara: eggs, cheese, pork and pepper, and no cream._
   - _The judges wanted a canonical performance of the dance, with every step done as the rules prescribe._
5. Stated or used in its most basic form, the one that can be applied most directly.
   - Simple: Put in the simplest, most basic way, so that it is easy to use.
   - _The theorem is much easier to apply once it is restated in its canonical form._
   - _Physics courses usually present the law in its canonical statement before adding corrections for friction._
6. In conformity with canon law, the body of law that governs a church.
   - Simple: Following the laws of the church.
   - _Lawyers for the diocese argued that the priest's dismissal had not been canonical._
   - _Rome confirmed that the election of the new abbot was fully canonical._
8. Expressed in the standard form agreed on for a mathematical object or a piece of data.
   - Simple: In math or computing, written in the standard form used for things of its kind.
   - _Before the comparison, both paths are made canonical, so ./docs/../img and img are recognized as the same folder._
   - _Each expression is reduced until it is canonical, at which point two equal expressions look identical._
9. Singled out from all others of its kind, so that it can be identified without making any arbitrary choice.
   - Simple: In math, being the one natural choice of its kind, not one that someone had to pick.
   - _Every vector space has a canonical map into its double dual, but matching it with its dual requires choosing a basis._
   - _The proof works because the bijection is canonical rather than built from an arbitrary ordering._
10. Written in the form of a musical canon, with the same melody taken up by successive voices.
   - Simple: In music, written so that one voice starts a tune and other voices copy it a little later.
   - _The second movement is canonical, with the violins echoing the flutes one bar later._
   - _She wrote a canonical setting of the hymn for four voices._
11. Relating to an ecclesiastical chapter, the body of clergy who run a cathedral.
   - Simple: Having to do with the group of priests who run a cathedral.
   - _The cathedral's canonical residences line the north side of the close._
   - _Disputes over canonical revenues divided the dean and the cathedral clergy for years._

## Noun

7. A URL in canonical form: the standard address chosen for a web page, especially one whose content also appears at other addresses.
   - Simple: The main web address chosen for a page that can be reached at more than one address.
   - _Set a canonical on each product page so that search engines index only one version._
   - _The audit found missing canonicals on half of the blog's posts._
12. The formal robes worn by a priest.
   - Simple: The formal robes that a priest wears.
   - _The bishop processed down the aisle in his canonicals, followed by two deacons._
   - _He changed out of his canonicals in the vestry and walked home in an ordinary coat._

## Origin

From Middle English canonycal, from Medieval Latin canōnicālis; it can be analysed as canon + -ical.

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