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Canon - 13 dictionary results

can⋅on

1 [kan-uhn]
–noun
1. an ecclesiastical rule or law enacted by a council or other competent authority and, in the Roman Catholic Church, approved by the pope.
2. the body of ecclesiastical law.
3. the body of rules, principles, or standards accepted as axiomatic and universally binding in a field of study or art: the neoclassical canon.
4. a fundamental principle or general rule: the canons of good behavior.
5. a standard; criterion: the canons of taste.
6. the books of the Bible recognized by any Christian church as genuine and inspired.
7. any officially recognized set of sacred books.
8. any comprehensive list of books within a field.
9. the works of an author that have been accepted as authentic: There are 37 plays in the Shakespeare canon. Compare apocrypha (def. 3).
10. a catalog or list, as of the saints acknowledged by the Church.
11. Liturgy. the part of the Mass between the Sanctus and the Communion.
12. Eastern Church. a liturgical sequence sung at matins, usually consisting of nine odes arranged in a fixed pattern.
13. Music. consistent, note-for-note imitation of one melodic line by another, in which the second line starts after the first.
14. Printing. a 48-point type.

Origin:
bef. 900; ME, OE < L < Gk kann measuring rod, rule, akin to kánna cane
Language Translation for : Canon
Spanish: canon, German: die Regel, der Kanon, Japanese: 戒律

can⋅on

2 [kan-uhn]
–noun
1. one of a body of dignitaries or prebendaries attached to a cathedral or a collegiate church; a member of the chapter of a cathedral or a collegiate church.
2. Roman Catholic Church. one of the members (canons regular) of certain religious orders.

Origin:
1150–1200; ME; back formation from OE canōnic (one) under rule < ML canōnicus, L: of or under rule < Gk kanōnikós. See canon 1 , -ic

ca⋅ñon

[kan-yuhn]
–noun
canyon.
can·on 1     (kān'ən)  Pronunciation Key 
n.  
  1. An ecclesiastical law or code of laws established by a church council.
  2. A secular law, rule, or code of law.
    1. An established principle: the canons of polite society.
    2. A basis for judgment; a standard or criterion.
    3. A group of literary works that are generally accepted as representing a field: "the durable canon of American short fiction" (William Styron).
    4. The works of a writer that have been accepted as authentic: the entire Shakespeare canon.
  3. The books of the Bible officially accepted as Holy Scripture.
    1. A group of literary works that are generally accepted as representing a field: "the durable canon of American short fiction" (William Styron).
    2. The works of a writer that have been accepted as authentic: the entire Shakespeare canon.
  4. Canon The part of the Mass beginning after the Preface and Sanctus and ending just before the Lord's Prayer.
  5. The calendar of saints accepted by the Roman Catholic Church.
  6. Music A composition or passage in which a melody is imitated by one or more voices at fixed intervals of pitch and time.


[Middle English canoun, from Old English canon and from Old French, both from Latin canōn, rule, from Greek kanōn, measuring rod, rule.]

can·on 2     (kān'ən)  Pronunciation Key 
n.  
  1. A member of a chapter of priests serving in a cathedral or collegiate church.
  2. A member of certain religious communities living under a common rule and bound by vows.


[Middle English canoun, from Norman French canun, from Late Latin canōnicus, one living under a rule, from Latin canōn, rule; see canon1.]

ca·ñon     (kān'yən)  Pronunciation Key 
n.   Variant of canyon.

can·yon also ca·ñon     (kān'yən)  Pronunciation Key 
n.   A narrow chasm with steep cliff walls, cut into the earth by running water; a gorge.


[Spanish cañon, augmentative of caña, tube, cane, from Latin canna, reed; see cane.]


canon  (1)
"church law," O.E., from L.L. canon, from L., "measuring line, rule," from Gk. kanon "rule," perhaps from kanna "reed" (see cane). Taken in ecclesiastical sense for "decree of the Church," and passed through L.L. to O.E. Canonical is first attested early 15c.; canonize, "to place in the canon or calendar of saints," is from c.1384.


canon  (2)
"clergyman," c.1205, from Anglo-Fr. canun, from O.N.Fr. canonie, from L.L. canonicus "clergyman living under a rule," from L. canonicus (adj.) "according to rule," from Gk. kanonikos, from kanon (see canon (1)).

canon

noun
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
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 

Canon City, CO (city, FIPS 11810) Location: 38.44137 N, 105.23438 W
Population (1990): 12687 (5609 housing units)
Area: 20.4 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 81212

Canon, GA (city, FIPS 12932) Location: 34.34619 N, 83.11072 W
Population (1990): 737 (340 housing units)
Area: 8.1 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 30520

canon

Cane\, n. [OE. cane, canne, OF. cane, F. canne, L. canna, fr. Gr. ?, ?; prob. of Semitic origin; cf. Heb. q[=a]neh reed. Cf. Canister, canon, 1st Cannon.]

1. (Bot.) (a) A name given to several peculiar palms, species of Calamus and D[ae]manorops, having very long, smooth flexible stems, commonly called rattans. (b) Any plant with long, hard, elastic stems, as reeds and bamboos of many kinds; also, the sugar cane. (c) Stems of other plants are sometimes called canes; as, the canes of a raspberry.

Like light canes, that first rise big and brave. --B. Jonson.

Note: In the Southern United States great cane is the Arundinaria macrosperma, and small cane is. A. tecta.

2. A walking stick; a staff; -- so called because originally made of one the species of cane.

Stir the fire with your master's cane. --Swift.

3. A lance or dart made of cane. [R.]

Judgelike thou sitt'st, to praise or to arraign The flying skirmish of the darted cane. --Dryden.

4. A local European measure of length. See Canna.

Cane borer (Zo["o].), A beetle (Oberea bimaculata) which, in the larval state, bores into pith and destroy the canes or stalks of the raspberry, blackberry, etc.

Cane mill, a mill for grinding sugar canes, for the manufacture of sugar.

Cane trash, the crushed stalks and other refuse of sugar cane, used for fuel, etc.

Canon

Can"non\, n.; pl. Cannons, collectively Cannon. [F. cannon, fr. L. canna reed, pipe, tube. See Cane.]

1. A great gun; a piece of ordnance or artillery; a firearm for discharging heavy shot with great force.

Note: Cannons are made of various materials, as iron, brass, bronze, and steel, and of various sizes and shapes with respect to the special service for which they are intended, as intended, as siege, seacoast, naval, field, or mountain, guns. They always aproach more or less nearly to a cylindrical from, being usually thicker toward the breech than at the muzzle. Formerly they were cast hollow, afterwards they were cast, solid, and bored out. The cannon now most in use for the armament of war vessels and for seacoast defense consists of a forged steel tube reinforced with massive steel rings shrunk upon it. Howitzers and mortars are sometimes called cannon. See Gun.

2. (Mech.) A hollow cylindrical piece carried by a revolving shaft, on which it may, however, revolve independently.

3. (Printing.) A kind of type. See Canon.

Cannon ball, strictly, a round solid missile of stone or iron made to be fired from a cannon, but now often applied to a missile of any shape, whether solid or hollow, made for cannon. Elongated and cylindrical missiles are sometimes called bolts; hollow ones charged with explosives are properly called shells.

Cannon bullet, a cannon ball. [Obs.]

Cannon cracker, a fire cracker of large size.

Cannon lock, a device for firing a cannon by a percussion primer.

Cannon metal. See Gun Metal.

Cannon pinion, the pinion on the minute hand arbor of a watch or clock, which drives the hand but permits it to be moved in setting.

Cannon proof, impenetrable by cannon balls.

Cannon shot. (a) A cannon ball. (b) The range of a cannon.

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