Search Result for "canon": 
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (6)

1. a rule or especially body of rules or principles generally established as valid and fundamental in a field or art or philosophy;
- Example: "the neoclassical canon"
- Example: "canons of polite society"

2. a priest who is a member of a cathedral chapter;

3. a ravine formed by a river in an area with little rainfall;
[syn: canyon, canon]

4. a contrapuntal piece of music in which a melody in one part is imitated exactly in other parts;

5. a complete list of saints that have been recognized by the Roman Catholic Church;

6. a collection of books accepted as holy scripture especially the books of the Bible recognized by any Christian church as genuine and inspired;


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Canon \Ca*[~n]on"\ (k[aum]*ny[-o]n"; anglicized k[a^]n"y[u^]n), n. [Sp., a tube or hollow, fr. ca[~n]a reed, fr. L. canna. See Cane.] A deep gorge, ravine, or gulch, between high and steep banks, worn by water courses. [Mexico & Western U. S.] [Also spelled canyon.] [1913 Webster +PJC]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

canon \can"on\ (k[a^]n"[u^]n), n. [OE. canon, canoun, AS. canon rule (cf. F. canon, LL. canon, and, for sense 7, F. chanoine, LL. canonicus), fr. L. canon a measuring line, rule, model, fr. Gr. kanw`n rule, rod, fr. ka`nh, ka`nnh, reed. See Cane, and cf. Canonical.] 1. A law or rule. [1913 Webster] Or that the Everlasting had not fixed His canon 'gainst self-slaughter. --Shak. [1913 Webster] 2. (Eccl.) A law, or rule of doctrine or discipline, enacted by a council and confirmed by the pope or the sovereign; a decision, regulation, code, or constitution made by ecclesiastical authority. [1913 Webster] Various canons which were made in councils held in the second centry. --Hook. [1913 Webster] 3. The collection of books received as genuine Holy Scriptures, called the sacred canon, or general rule of moral and religious duty, given by inspiration; the Bible; also, any one of the canonical Scriptures. See Canonical books, under Canonical, a. [1913 Webster] 4. In monasteries, a book containing the rules of a religious order. [1913 Webster] 5. A catalogue of saints acknowledged and canonized in the Roman Catholic Church. [1913 Webster] 6. A member of a cathedral chapter; a person who possesses a prebend in a cathedral or collegiate church. [1913 Webster] 7. (Mus.) A musical composition in which the voices begin one after another, at regular intervals, successively taking up the same subject. It either winds up with a coda (tailpiece), or, as each voice finishes, commences anew, thus forming a perpetual fugue or round. It is the strictest form of imitation. See Imitation. [1913 Webster] 8. (Print.) The largest size of type having a specific name; -- so called from having been used for printing the canons of the church. [1913 Webster] 9. The part of a bell by which it is suspended; -- called also ear and shank. Note: [See Illust. of Bell.] --Knight. [1913 Webster] 10. (Billiards) See Carom. [1913 Webster] Apostolical canons. See under Apostolical. Augustinian canons, Black canons. See under Augustinian. Canon capitular, Canon residentiary, a resident member of a cathedral chapter (during a part or the whole of the year). Canon law. See under Law. Canon of the Mass (R. C. Ch.), that part of the mass, following the Sanctus, which never changes. Honorary canon, a canon[6] who neither lived in a monastery, nor kept the canonical hours. Minor canon (Ch. of Eng.), one who has been admitted to a chapter, but has not yet received a prebend. Regular canon (R. C. Ch.), one who lived in a conventual community and followed the rule of St. Austin; a Black canon. Secular canon (R. C. Ch.), one who did not live in a monastery, but kept the hours. [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

canon n 1: a rule or especially body of rules or principles generally established as valid and fundamental in a field or art or philosophy; "the neoclassical canon"; "canons of polite society" 2: a priest who is a member of a cathedral chapter 3: a ravine formed by a river in an area with little rainfall [syn: canyon, canon] 4: a contrapuntal piece of music in which a melody in one part is imitated exactly in other parts 5: a complete list of saints that have been recognized by the Roman Catholic Church 6: a collection of books accepted as holy scripture especially the books of the Bible recognized by any Christian church as genuine and inspired
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

189 Moby Thesaurus words for "canon": Bible, Douay Bible, Festschrift, Grand Penitentiary, Holy Father, Holy Scripture, Holy Writ, King James Version, Procrustean law, Revised Standard Version, Revised Version, Scripture, Sefer Torah, Septuagint, Testament, Torah, Torah scroll, Virginal, Vulgate, a belief, abuna, act, album, ana, analects, anthology, antipope, archbishop, archdeacon, archpriest, article of faith, assize, axiom, barometer, beauties, bill, bishop, bishop coadjutor, breviary, bylaw, cardinal, cardinal bishop, cardinal deacon, cardinal priest, catch, chaplain, check, chrestomathy, church book, coadjutor, code, collectanea, collected works, collection, commandment, compilation, complete works, convention, criterion, curate, dean, decree, decretum, degree, delectus, dictate, dictation, dictum, diocesan, doctrine, dogma, ecclesiarch, edict, enactment, euchologion, euchology, exarch, farse, florilegium, flowers, form, formality, formula, formulary, fugato, fugue, garden, garland, gauge, general principle, golden rule, graduated scale, guideline, guiding principle, hierarch, high priest, imperative, institution, jus, law, law of nature, lectionary, legislation, lex, litany, machzor, manual, maxim, measure, metropolitan, miscellanea, miscellany, missal, mitzvah, model, moral, norm, norma, omnibus, order of nature, ordinal, ordinance, ordonnance, papa, parameter, patriarch, pattern, penitentiary, photograph album, pontiff, pontifical, pope, prayer book, prebendary, precept, prelate, prescribed form, prescript, prescription, primate, principium, principle, quantity, quotation book, reading, readout, rector, regulation, ritual, rituale, rondeau, rondelet, rondino, rondo, rondoletto, round, roundelay, rubric, rule, ruling, rural dean, scale, scrapbook, service book, set form, settled principle, siddur, standard, standing order, statute, subdean, suffragan, symposium, teaching, tenet, test, the Book, the Good Book, the Scriptures, the Word, touchstone, troll, type, universal law, value, vicar, working principle, working rule, yardstick
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

28 Moby Thesaurus words for "Canon": Agnus Dei, Alleluia, Anamnesis, Blessing, Collect, Communion, Consecration, Credo, Dismissal, Epistle, Fraction, Gloria, Gospel, Gradual, Introit, Kyrie, Kyrie Eleison, Last Gospel, Lavabo, Offertory, Paternoster, Pax, Post-Communion, Preface, Sanctus, Secreta, Tersanctus, Tract
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary:

Canon This word is derived from a Hebrew and Greek word denoting a reed or cane. Hence it means something straight, or something to keep straight; and hence also a rule, or something ruled or measured. It came to be applied to the Scriptures, to denote that they contained the authoritative rule of faith and practice, the standard of doctrine and duty. A book is said to be of canonical authority when it has a right to take a place with the other books which contain a revelation of the Divine will. Such a right does not arise from any ecclesiastical authority, but from the evidence of the inspired authorship of the book. The canonical (i.e., the inspired) books of the Old and New Testaments, are a complete rule, and the only rule, of faith and practice. They contain the whole supernatural revelation of God to men. The New Testament Canon was formed gradually under divine guidance. The different books as they were written came into the possession of the Christian associations which began to be formed soon after the day of Pentecost; and thus slowly the canon increased till all the books were gathered together into one collection containing the whole of the twenty-seven New Testament inspired books. Historical evidence shows that from about the middle of the second century this New Testament collection was substantially such as we now possess. Each book contained in it is proved to have, on its own ground, a right to its place; and thus the whole is of divine authority. The Old Testament Canon is witnessed to by the New Testament writers. Their evidence is conclusive. The quotations in the New from the Old are very numerous, and the references are much more numerous. These quotations and references by our Lord and the apostles most clearly imply the existence at that time of a well-known and publicly acknowledged collection of Hebrew writings under the designation of "The Scriptures;" "The Law and the Prophets and the Psalms;" "Moses and the Prophets," etc. The appeals to these books, moreover, show that they were regarded as of divine authority, finally deciding all questions of which they treat; and that the whole collection so recognized consisted only of the thirty-nine books which we now posses. Thus they endorse as genuine and authentic the canon of the Jewish Scriptures. The Septuagint Version (q.v.) also contained every book we now have in the Old Testament Scriptures. As to the time at which the Old Testament canon was closed, there are many considerations which point to that of Ezra and Nehemiah, immediately after the return from Babylonian exile. (See BIBLE ¯T0000580, EZRA, QUOTATIONS.)
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

CANON, eccl. law. This word is taken from the Greek, and signifies a rule or law. In ecclesiastical law, it is also used to designate an order of religious persons. Francis Duaren says, the reason why the ecclesiastics called the rules they established canons or rules, (canones id est regulas) and not laws, was modesty. They did not dare to call them (leges) laws, lest they should seem to arrogate to themselves the authority of princes and magistrates. De Sacris Ecclesiae Ministeriis, p. 2, in pref. See Law, Canon.
U.S. Gazetteer Places (2000):

Canon, GA -- U.S. city in Georgia Population (2000): 755 Housing Units (2000): 361 Land area (2000): 3.179511 sq. miles (8.234896 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km) Total area (2000): 3.179511 sq. miles (8.234896 sq. km) FIPS code: 12932 Located within: Georgia (GA), FIPS 13 Location: 34.345576 N, 83.108741 W ZIP Codes (1990): 30520 Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs. Headwords: Canon, GA Canon