I. can·on ˈkanən noun
( -s )
Usage: often capitalized
Etymology: Middle English canoun, canon, from Old English & Old French canon, from Late Latin, from Latin, model, standard, from Greek kanōn rod, measuring line, standard; akin to Greek kanna reed — more at cane
1. : a decree, decision, regulation, code, or constitution made by ecclesiastical authority ; specifically : a law or rule of doctrine or discipline enacted by a council and confirmed by highest ecclesiastical authority
2.
[Middle English, probably from Old French, from Late Latin]
a. : a fundamental and relatively unchangeable part of the Roman Catholic mass containing the fixed rule according to which the sacrifice of the mass is to be offered ; specifically : the part of the mass beginning after the sanctus with the prayer “Te igitur” and ending just before the paternoster or with the consumption of the eucharistic elements
b. : a book containing the canon and ordinary used at pontifical mass
3.
[Middle English, from Late Latin]
a. : a collection or authoritative list of books accepted as holy scripture: as
(1) : books forming the accepted Hebrew list of the Holy Scriptures collected under the divisions of the Law, the Prophets, and the writings accepted by Protestant Christians as the original and definitive canon of the Old Testament but supplemented by Roman Catholics with additional books drawn from the Septuagint
(2) : books forming the Christian New Testament
(3) : books forming the Old and New Testaments and constituting the Christian Bible
b. : an accepted or sanctioned list of books
established in the canon of literature
c. : the authentic works of a writer
the Chaucer canon
4. archaic : a general mathematical rule, formula, or table
5.
a. : a basic general principle or rule commonly accepted as true, valid, and fundamental
I accept Plato's well-known canon that only the perfectly real can be perfectly known — W.R.Inge
b. : a norm, criterion, model, or standard for evaluating, judging, testing, or criticizing
Novalis … set up the fairy tale as the canon of art — Irving Babbitt
c. : a body of principles, rules, standards, or norms (as in the normative sciences)
according to newspaper canon … a big story calls for a lot of copy — A.J.Liebling
d.
[German kanon, from Latin canon or Greek kanōn ]
in Kant : the totality of fundamental a priori principles for the correct use of our capacities for knowledge
e. in Mill : any one of the five methods for induction — compare indirect method of difference , method of agreement , method of concomitant variations , method of difference , method of residues
6.
[Late Greek kanōn, from Greek]
: a contrapuntal musical composition in two or more voice parts in which the melody is imitated exactly and completely by the successively entering voices though not always at the same pitch and which either ends with a coda or begins over again — see circular canon ; compare catch 5, round
7.
[Late Latin]
a. : a fixed annual or customary payment or tribute (as to the church) : quitrent
b. : the annual rent payable under a Roman emphyteusis
8.
[French; probably from having been used in printing the canon of the mass]
: a type of either about 44 point or about 48 point which is the largest size having a specific name
9.
[Medieval Latin, list, from Late Latin, catalog of saints, from Greek kanōn table (as of dates)]
a. : a list (as of clergy, deaconesses, or those receiving charity) in the early church
b. : a catalog of recognized saints
10. : a liturgical sequence of the Eastern Orthodox Church consisting normally of nine odes each comprising several troparia sung as an integral part of matins and also at certain other offices (as at compline during the first week of Lent)
the Canon of the Holy Fathers
the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete
11. : a dance in which certain dancers follow the patterns previously set by others who then change to new patterns
Synonyms: see law
II. canon noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English canoun, from Anglo-French canunie, from Late Latin canonicus one living under a rule, from Latin canonicus according to rule, from Greek kanonikos, from kanon-, kanōn rod, rule + -ikos -ic — more at canon I
1. : one of the clergy of a medieval cathedral or large church living as a community under a rule
2. : a clergyman belonging to the chapter or the staff of a cathedral or collegiate church — compare honorary canon , minor canon
3. : canon regular 2
III. canon
variant of cannon
IV. ca·non kəˈnōn
variant of canun