Canon

How to spell canon

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce canon

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does canon mean?

1. nounA recognised, authoritative collection of books, works, or rules accepted as genuine or standard.
2. nounA member of the clergy attached to a cathedral or collegiate church.
3. nounA piece of music in which a melody is repeated by overlapping voices that enter one after another.

Canon in a sentence

• The professor argued that the novel belongs in the literary canon.

• The canon led the morning service at the cathedral.

• The choir sang the round as a strict canon, each voice entering in turn.

• These two plays were long excluded from the Shakespeare canon.

• She was appointed canon of the diocese after years of service.

• Pachelbel composed a famous canon for three violins.

Where does canon come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word traces back to the Greek kanon, which literally meant a straight rod or measuring rule, the kind of bar a builder used to check that a line was true. From that physical sense it grew into a figure of speech for any standard, rule, or principle that things are measured against. Latin took it over as canon, and the early Christian Church used it for its official rules and for the approved list of scriptural books, the texts judged to be genuine. English borrowed it through Old English and Old French well before 1000 in its church meanings, and over time it widened to cover any authoritative body of works, such as a literary canon. Note the single n in the middle, which is exactly what separates it from the weapon spelled cannon; the Greek root never had a double n.

How the word is built

• canon (from Greek kanon: a rule or measuring rod)
• no affix

Words that sound like canon

They sound the same but mean different things, so the meaning decides which spelling to write.

• cannon: A large, heavy piece of artillery that fires shells or balls, especially the mounted guns used historically in warfare.