Meanings
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1
noun
A general rule or principle that is widely accepted in a field.
The trial must proceed according to the canons of law.
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2
noun
The books or stories officially accepted as part of a fictional world.
A later book revealed the aliens came from Earth, but fans argue it is not canon.
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3
noun
The group of works regarded as the most important in a subject.
These three novels are firmly part of the English literary canon.
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4
noun
A piece of music in which voices sing the same tune but start at different times.
Pachelbel's Canon is often played at weddings.
Thesaurus
Etymology
* As an English, Scottish, and Irish surname, variant of Cannon. * As a French topographical surname, from placenames derived from canne (“reed, cane, tube”). * As a Chaldean/Chaldean Neo-Aramaic surname, variant of Kanon, Kanoun, from [script needed] (Kānūn), the Classical Syriac name of the ninth and tenth months of the Assyrian calendar, from ܟܢܘܢ ܒ.