canon
pronunciation
How to pronounce canon in British English:
UK [ˈkænən]
How to pronounce canon in American English:
US [ˈkænən]
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- Noun:
- a rule or especially body of rules or principles generally established as valid and fundamental in a field or art or philosophy
- a priest who is a member of a cathedral chapter
- a ravine formed by a river in an area with little rainfall
- a contrapuntal piece of music in which a melody in one part is imitated exactly in other parts
- a complete list of saints that have been recognized by the Roman Catholic Church
- a collection of books accepted as holy scripture especially the books of the Bible recognized by any Christian church as genuine and inspired
Word Origin
- canon
- canon: There are today two distinct words canon in English, although ultimately they are related. The older, ‘(ecclesiastical) rule’ [OE], comes via Latin canōn from Greek kanón ‘rule’, which some have speculated may be related to Greek kánnā ‘reed’, source of English cane (the semantic link is said to be ‘reed’ – ‘rod’ – ‘measuring rod’ – ‘rule’).The derived adjective, kanonikós, passed into ecclesiastical Latin as canonicus, which was used as a noun, ‘clergyman’; in Old French this became canonie or chanonie, and as it crossed into English its last syllable dropped off (owing to the influence of canon ‘rule’). The underlying sense of canon ‘clergyman’ [13] is thus ‘one living according to the rules of religious life’.
- canon (n.1)
- "church law," Old English canon, from Old French canon or directly from Late Latin canon "Church law," in classical Latin, "measuring line, rule," from Greek kanon "any straight rod or bar; rule; standard of excellence," perhaps from kanna "reed" (see cane (n.)). Taken in ecclesiastical sense for "decree of the Church." General sense of "standard of judging" is from c. 1600. Harold Bloom writes that "The secular canon, with the word meaning a catalog of approved authors, does not actually begin until the middle of the eighteenth century ...." ["The Western Canon," 1994]. Related: Canonicity.
- canon (n.2)
- "clergyman," c. 1200, from Anglo-French canun, from Old North French canonie (Modern French chanoine), from Church Latin canonicus "clergyman living under a rule," noun use of Latin adjective canonicus "according to rule" (in ecclesiastical use, "pertaining to the canon"), from Greek kanonikos, from kanon "rule" (see canon (n.1)).
Example
- 1. There is no canon or accredited list of acceptable ideas .
- 2. It is a broad canon , stretching from theories to explain how prices are determined to how economies grow .
- 3. The different international relations theories also provide a much greater variety of possible outcomes than the hollywood zombie canon .
- 4. Why isn 't it salt and cumin , or salt and coriander , with every dish in the western canon ?
- 5. The most elegant contribution to the new canon comes from alaa al-aswany , author of " the yacoubian building " , a bestselling novel from 2002 .