canon

Meaning

Noun

• A generally accepted principle; a rule.
• A group of literary works that are generally accepted as representing a field.
• The works of a writer that have been accepted as authentic.
• A eucharistic prayer, particularly the Roman Canon.
• A religious law or body of law decreed by the church.
• A catalogue of saints acknowledged and canonized in the Roman Catholic Church.
• In monasteries, a book containing the rules of a religious order.
• A piece of music in which the same melody is played by different voices, but beginning at different times; a round.
• A rent or stipend payable at some regular time, generally annual, e.g., canon frumentarius
• Those sources, especially including literary works, which are considered part of the main continuity regarding a given fictional universe.
• A rolled and filleted loin of meat; also called cannon.
• A large size of type formerly used for printing the church canons, standardized as 48-point.
• The part of a bell by which it is suspended; the ear or shank of a bell.
• A carom.
• A clergy member serving a cathedral or collegiate church.
• A canon regular, a member of any of several Roman Catholic religious orders.
• Alternate spelling of qanun

Related

Similar words

• French canon

Origin

• From Middle English canoun, from Old French canon, from Latin canōn, from Ancient Greek κανών ("measuring rod, standard"), akin to κάννα, from Semitic (compare Hebrew קָנֶה ("reed") and Arabic قَنَاة ("reed")). qanun. See also cane.
• From Middle English canoun, ultimately from Latin canonicus (either by shortening or back-formation from Old English canonic, or via Old Northern French canoine).