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.
10. established or agreed-upon constraints governing the background narrative, setting, storyline, characters, etc., in a particular fictional world: It’s accepted as canon that vampires are harmed by sunlight.
11. a catalog or list, as of the saints acknowledged by the Church.
12. the part of the Mass between the Sanctus and the Communion.
13. a liturgical sequence sung at matins, usually consisting of nine odes arranged in a fixed pattern.
14. consistent, note-for-note imitation of one melodic line by another, in which the second line starts after the first.
15. a 48-point type.

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. one of the members (canons regular ) of certain religious orders.

1. a Church decree enacted to regulate morals or religious practices
2. a general rule or standard, as of judgment, morals, etc
3. a principle or accepted criterion applied in a branch of learning or art
4. the complete list of the canonized saints
5. the prayer in the Mass in which the Host is consecrated
6. a list of writings, esp sacred writings, officially recognized as genuine
7. a piece of music in which an extended melody in one part is imitated successively in one or more other parts
8. a list of the works of an author that are accepted as authentic
9. (formerly) a size of printer's type equal to 48 point

1. one of several priests on the permanent staff of a cathedral, who are responsible for organizing services, maintaining the fabric, etc
2. a member of either of two religious orders, the Augustinian or Premonstratensian Canons, living communally as monks but performing clerical duties

1. a variant spelling of canyon

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