Canon

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
    

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.
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   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.
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            Various canons which were made in councils held in
            the second centry.                    --Hook.
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   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.
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   4. In monasteries, a book containing the rules of a religious
      order.
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   5. A catalogue of saints acknowledged and canonized in the
      Roman Catholic Church.
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   6. A member of a cathedral chapter; a person who possesses a
      prebend in a cathedral or collegiate church.
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   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.
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   9. The part of a bell by which it is suspended; -- called
      also {ear} and {shank}.

   Note: [See Illust. of {Bell}.] --Knight.
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   10. (Billiards) See {Carom}.
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   {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]
    

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]
    

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}.)
    

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, 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
    

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. 
    

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

    

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