CANON

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Old English, from Late Latin, from Latin, ruler, rule, model, standard, from Greek kanōn Date: before 12th century 1. a regulation or dogma decreed by a church council, a provision of ~ law, the most solemn and unvarying part of the Mass including the consecration of the bread and wine, 3. \Middle English, from Late Latin, from Latin, standard] an authoritative list of books accepted as Holy Scripture, the authentic works of a writer, a sanctioned or accepted group or body of related works , 4. an accepted principle or rule, a criterion or standard of judgment, a body of principles, rules, standards, or norms, a contrapuntal musical composition in which each successively entering voice presents the initial theme usually transformed in a strictly consistent way, see: law II. noun Etymology: Middle English canoun, from Anglo-French *canoun, chanoun, from Late Latin ~icus one living under a rule, from Latin, according to rule, from Greek kanonikos, from kanōn Date: 13th century a clergyman belonging to the chapter or the staff of a cathedral or collegiate church, ~ regular