English Explanatory Dictionary

canon

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A generally accepted principle; a rule.
  2. A formally codified set of criteria deemed mandatory for a particular artistic style of figurative art.
  3. A group of literary works that are generally accepted as representing a field.
  4. The works of a writer that have been accepted as authentic.
  5. A eucharistic prayer, particularly the Roman Canon.
  6. A religious law or body of law decreed by the church.
  7. A catalogue of saints acknowledged and canonized in the Roman Catholic Church.
  8. In monasteries, a book containing the rules of a religious order.
  9. A piece of music in which the same melody is played by different voices, but beginning at different times; a round.
  10. A rent or stipend payable at some regular time, generally annual, e.g., canon frumentarius
  11. Those sources, especially including literary works, which are considered part of the main continuity regarding a given fictional universe; (metonymic) these sources' content.
  12. Alternative form of cannon (“rolled and filleted loin of meat”).
noun
  1. A type of clergymember serving a cathedral or collegiate church.
  2. A canon regular, a member of any of several Roman Catholic religious orders.
adj
  1. Clipping of canonical.
noun
  1. Alternative spelling of qanun.
noun
  1. Alternative spelling of cannon (“weapon”).
  2. Alternative spelling of cannon (“a carom in billiards”).
noun
  1. Obsolete spelling of canyon.
name
  1. A surname.
  2. The Canon of the Mass.
noun
  1. Alternative letter-case form of canon: a member of a chapter.
  2. Title for a canon.

Pronunciation

kăn'ən /ˈkæn.ən/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-canon.wav

Word forms

canon canons more canon most canon

Etymology

From Middle English canoun, from Old French canon and Old English canon, both from Latin canōn, from Ancient Greek κανών (kanṓn, “measuring rod, standard”), akin to κάννα (kánna, “reed”), from Semitic (compare Hebrew קָנֶה (qane, “reed”) and Arabic قَنَاة (qanāh, “reed”)). Doublet of qanun. See also cane, cannon, canyon, canal.

Synonyms

French canon

Antonyms

non-canon

Related words

Canon Frome

Derived words

canon bit canon bone canon by contrary motion canon event canonic canonical canonicity canonisation canonization canonise canonize canonist canonistic canon law canonlike canonship crab canon deuterocanonical double canon enigma canon enigmatical canon enigmatic canon fanon headcanon infinite canon minor canon mirror canon Morgan's canon non-canon noncanonical perpetual canon protocanonical puzzle canon riddle canon soft canon Canonbury canoness Canon Frome canonry Canon's Marsh Canons Park Stoke Canon

Translations

Albanian: kanun Bulgarian: канон Catalan: cànon Danish: kanon Finnish: law) Finnish: periaate Middle English: canoun Polish: kanon
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