secular canon

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.
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            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}.
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   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.
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