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APG.American
Pronunciation Guide
HOW TO PRONOUNCE

canon

/ˈkænən/

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What does canon mean?

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.
More meanings (22)

noun

  1. The works of a writer that have been accepted as authentic.
  2. A eucharistic prayer, particularly the Roman Canon.
  3. A religious law or body of law decreed by the church.
  4. A catalogue of saints acknowledged and canonized in the Roman Catholic Church.
  5. In monasteries, a book containing the rules of a religious order.
  6. A piece of music in which the same melody is played by different voices, but beginning at different times; a round.
  7. A rent or stipend payable at some regular time, generally annual, e.g., canon frumentarius
  8. (slang) The officially recognized continuity, events, characters, relationships, etc. of a work of fiction.
  9. Alternative form of cannon (“rolled and filleted loin of meat”).
  10. The part of a bell by which it is suspended; the ear or shank of a bell.
  11. A type of clergymember serving a cathedral or collegiate church.
  12. A canon regular, a member of any of several Roman Catholic religious orders.
  13. Alternative spelling of qanun.
  14. Alternative spelling of cannon (“a carom in billiards”).
  15. Alternative letter-case form of canon: a member of a chapter.
  16. Title for a canon.
  17. (dated) A large size of type formerly used for printing the church canons, standardized as 48-point.
  18. (obsolete) Alternative spelling of cannon (“weapon”).
  19. (obsolete) Obsolete spelling of canyon.

adjective

  1. (slang) Clipping of canonical.

proper noun

  1. A surname.
  2. The Canon of the Mass.
Wiktionary contributors Wiktionary contributors

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/ˈkænən/

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary ↗

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

Most valuable, too, have been studies during the latter part of the nineteenth century upon the formation of the canon of Scripture.
Andrew Dickson WhiteHistory of the Warfare of Science with Theology in ChristendomProject Gutenberg ebook #505
It is one side of an immense vault or canon wall whose mate has been lost or dropped completely out of sight.
J. A. (Joseph Amasa) MunkArizona SketchesProject Gutenberg ebook #756
More book examples (3)
This habit of making obvious costliness a canon of serviceability of course acts to enhance the aggregate cost of articles of consumption.
Thorstein VeblenThe Theory of the Leisure ClassProject Gutenberg ebook #833
The men quickly indicted the cathedral for its uselessness, and the canon asked them what in their minds should be its future.
Jane AddamsTwenty Years at Hull House; with Autobiographical NotesProject Gutenberg ebook #1325
Hence, the canon of “Natura non facit saltum,” which every fresh addition to our knowledge tends to confirm, is on this theory intelligible.
Charles DarwinThe Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection Or, the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, 6th EditionProject Gutenberg ebook #2009