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From Middle English canoun, from Old French canon and Old English canon, both from Latin canōn, from Ancient Greek κανών (kanṓn, “measuring rod, standard”), akin to κάννα (kánna, “reed”), from Semitic (compare Hebrew קָנֶה (qane, “reed”) and Arabic قَنَاة (qanāh, “reed”)). Doublet of qanun. See also cane, cannon, canyon, canal.

• enPR: kăn'ən, IPA^(key): /ˈkæn.ən/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ænən
• Homophone: cannon

canon (countable and uncountable, plural canons)

1. A generally accepted principle; a rule.

   The trial must proceed according to the canons of law.

   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:

     Or that the Everlasting had not fixed His canon 'gainst self-slaughter.

   1. A formally codified set of criteria deemed mandatory for a particular artistic style of figurative art.

      the Canon of Polykleitos

      • 1975, Richard Tobin, “The Canon of Polykleitos”, in American Journal of Archaeology‎^[2], volume 79, number 4, →DOI, →JSTOR, retrieved 2 October 2020, pages 307–321:

        Despite the many advances made by modern scholars towards a clearer comprehension of the theoretical basis of the Canon of Polykleitos, the results of these studies show an absence of any general agreement upon the practical application of that canon in works of art.

2. A group of literary works that are generally accepted as representing a field.
   • 1992 February 2, Mitzel, “Clay Shaw, The Quean Network & That Kennedy Killing”, in Gay Community News, volume 19, number 28, page 12:

     Russo had been working as a salesman, selling Great Books of the Western World, hawking the canon to the rubes.

   • 2015, William Styron, “Irwin Shaw”, in My Generation: Collected Nonfiction, page 456:

     the durable canon of American short fiction

3. The works of a writer that have been accepted as authentic.

   the entire Shakespearean canon

4. A eucharistic prayer, particularly the Roman Canon.
5. A religious law or body of law decreed by the church.

   We must proceed according to canon law.

6. A catalogue of saints acknowledged and canonized in the Roman Catholic Church.
7. In monasteries, a book containing the rules of a religious order.
8. A piece of music in which the same melody is played by different voices, but beginning at different times; a round.

   Pachelbel’s Canon has become very popular.

9. (Roman law) A rent or stipend payable at some regular time, generally annual, e.g., canon frumentarius
   • 1919 January, Charles P. Sherman, “A Brief History of Imperial Roman Canon Law”, in California Law Review, volume 7, number 2, Berkeley, California: University of California, pages 96–97:

     The lessees of public lands had to pay a perpetual rent or "canon" at some periodical time.

11. (chiefly fandom slang, uncountable) The officially recognized continuity, events, characters, relationships, etc. of a work of fiction.

    Coordinate term: lore

    A spin-off book series revealed the aliens to be originally from Earth, but it's not canon.

    • 2014, Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars:

      Meanwhile, having learned the whereabouts of the Death Star's plans, the rebels send their best platypus agent to obtain them, in hopes of finding a weakness. And none of this is canon, so just relax.

12. (cooking) Alternative form of cannon (“rolled and filleted loin of meat”).

    a canon of beef or lamb

13. (printing, dated, uncountable) A large size of type formerly used for printing the church canons, standardized as 48-point.
15. The part of a bell by which it is suspended; the ear or shank of a bell.^[1]

• (48-point type): French canon

From Middle English canoun, ultimately from Latin canonicus (either by shortening or back-formation from Old English canonic, or via Old Northern French canoine).

canon (plural canons)

2. A type of clergymember serving a cathedral or collegiate church.

   Coordinate terms: abbé, deacon; curate; priest, reverend, pastor, rector, vicar

   • 1999, Robert Lacey, Danny Danziger, The Year 1000: What life was like at the turn of The First Millennium, London: Abacus, published 2000, page 169:

     The records show that in the early 960s the cathedral at Winchester was administered by a group of canons, every one of whom was married.

4. A canon regular, a member of any of several Roman Catholic religious orders.

canon (comparative more canon, superlative most canon)

1. (fandom slang) Clipping of canonical.

   Antonym: non-canon

   The franchise's book spinoff is usually not considered canon.

canon (plural canons)

1. Alternative spelling of qanun.

canon (plural canons)

1. (obsolete, now a misspelling) Alternative spelling of cannon (“weapon”).
2. Alternative spelling of cannon (“a carom in billiards”).

From Spanish cañón, spelling it without the diacritics.

canon (plural canons)

1. Obsolete spelling of canyon.
   • 1887, Frank McAlpine, Mile-stones of History, Literature, Travel, Mythology, ...:

     [page 247:] the most wonderful depressions, gorges, canons, or valleys ever discovered.
     [page 249:] Some two miles on we come to where the three canons begin.
     [page 329:] the Canons of the Colorado River. This gave Moran his subject for a second painting, which he called the "Grand Chasm of the Colorado" [...]

   • 1995, Michael A. Bogan, A Biological Survey of Fort Niobrara and Valentine National ..., page 13, quoting writings by a Bailey in 1890:

     "Clarks Canon, […] very sandy, hilly, deep canons (or ravines), river valleys, and no trees or brush […] "

• James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Canon”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC.

• Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “canon”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
• “canon”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

• Ancon, Conan, ancon

From Ancient Greek κανών (kanṓn, “measuring rod, standard”), akin to κάννα (kánna, “reed”), perhaps from Semitic (compare Hebrew קנה (qaneh, “reed”)).

• IPA^(key): /ˈkaː.nɔn/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ca‧non

canon m (plural canons, diminutive canonnetje n)

1. canon (set of representative or pre-eminent literary works)
   1. (chiefly Christianity) canon (set of authoritative religious books, especially those constituting the Bible)
2. (Christianity) canon (religious law)
3. (music) canon (round, music piece consisting of the same melody sung by different voices)
4. (Roman Catholicism) canon (part of a mass following the Sanctus up to the end of the Pater Noster, consisting mostly of prayers)
5. (dated) canon (principle, rule)

• canoniek
• canoniseren

• IPA^(key): /ka.nɔ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Paris)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Inherited from Old French canon, corresponding to Italian cannone (from which borrowed most of the weaponry senses).

canon m (plural canons)

1. cannon, (big) gun
2. barrel (of firearm)
3. cannon for a horse

Inherited from Old French canon, borrowed from Latin canōn, from Ancient Greek κανών (kanṓn, “measuring rod, standard”).

The 'attractive person' sense comes from an ellipsis of canon de beauté.

canon m (plural canons)

1. canon
2. (music) canon
3. (religion) canon
4. (slang) hottie, dish, bombshell (attractive man/woman)

   Synonyms: bombe, avion de chasse

• canon à neige
• canon de beauté

• → Turkish: kanon

From the above noun (see sense 4) by conversion.

canon (plural canons)

1. (informal, of a person) hot, sexy

   Cette nouvelle coupe de cheveux te va trop bien, t'es canon! ― This new hair really suits you, you're hot!

From canne +‎ -on.

canon m (plural canons)

1. (slang) glass of wine

• “canon”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

• cânon, cânone (reintegrationist)

canon m (plural canons)

1. canon (principle, literary works, prayer, religious law, music piece)

• “canon”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈka.noːn]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈkaː.non]

Borrowed from Ancient Greek κανών (kanṓn, “measuring rod, standard”), akin to κάννα (kánna, “reed”), perhaps from Semitic (compare Hebrew קנה (qaneh, “reed”)).

canōn m (genitive canonis); third declension

1. a measuring line
2. (figuratively) precept, rule, canon
3. a yearly tribute paid to the emperor; (Medieval Latin, by extension) a periodic payment
4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) authorized catalog, especially of books of the Bible or of the saints
5. (Ecclesiastical Latin) decree of a church synod
6. (Ecclesiastical Latin) the Canon of the Mass
7. (Medieval Latin) relic

Third-declension noun.

• (precept, rule): nōrma, praeceptum, rēgula

• canōnizō
• canōnismata

• Italian: canone
• Sicilian: cànuni
• → Catalan: cànon
• → German: Kanon
• → Japanese: カノン
• → Dutch: canon
• → Old French: canon (see there for further descendants)
• → Portuguese: cânone
• → Russian: канон (kanon)
• → Spanish: canon

From canna (“pipe”), compare Italian cannone and Old French canon.

canōn m (genitive canōnis); third declension

1. (Medieval Latin) a cannon (artillery)

• “canon”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• "canon", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “canon”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “canon”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “canon”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
• Niermeyer, Jan Frederik (1976), “canon”, in Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden, Boston: E. J. Brill

From Middle French canon, from Italian cannone, from Latin canna, from Ancient Greek κάννα (kánna, “reed”), from Akkadian 𒄀 (qanû, “reed”), from Sumerian 𒄀𒈾 (gi.na).

• kanon

• IPA^(key): /kaˈnoːn/

canon (plural canones)

1. (Late Middle English) cannon

• English: cannon
  • → Welsh: canon

• “canọ̄n, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

canon

1. alternative form of canoun (“authoritative rules”)

canon

1. alternative form of canoun (“clergy member”)

From Old French canon.

canon m (plural canons)

1. cannon

From cane (“reed, cane, tube”) +‎ -on, corresponding to Italian cannone (from which borrowed the weaponry sense).

canon oblique singular, m (oblique plural canons, nominative singular canons, nominative plural canon)

1. tube
2. (weaponry) cannon

Borrowed from Latin canōn, from Ancient Greek κανών (kanṓn, “measuring rod, standard”).

canon oblique singular, m (oblique plural canons, nominative singular canons, nominative plural canon)

1. canon

Borrowed from Old Church Slavonic канонъ (kanonŭ), from Ancient Greek κανών (kanṓn).

canon n (plural canoane)

1. canon
2. (usually in regards to religion) tenet, dogma, rule, norm, precept
3. punishment or penance for breaking such a religious rule

• canoni

• canonic
• canoniza

Borrowed from Latin canōn,^[1] from Ancient Greek κανών (kanṓn, “measuring rod, standard”) (compare κάννα (kánna, “reed”)), perhaps of Semitic origin. The fiction sense is borrowed from English canon.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkanon/ [ˈka.nõn]
• Rhymes: -anon
• Syllabification: ca‧non

canon m (plural cánones)

1. canon (principle, literary works, prayer, religious law, music piece)

   Synonyms: norma, precepto, regla

2. tax, fee
3. (Internet slang, fandom slang) canon (in fiction)

canon (invariable)

1. (Internet slang, fandom slang) canon (in fiction)

• “canon”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

• (verb form): canasom (literary, first-person plural)
• (verb form): canasant (literary, third-person plural)
• (artillery): canan

• (North Wales) IPA^(key): /ˈkanɔn/
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): /ˈkaːnɔn/, /ˈkanɔn/

From English canon

canon f (plural cannonau)

1. canon (ecclesiastical degree)

canon m (plural canoniaid or canons)

1. canon (clerical)

Borrowed from English cannon

canon m (plural canonau)

1. cannon

• pelen canon f (“cannonball”)

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

canon

1. first/third-person plural preterite colloquial of canu

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke, et al., editors (1950–present), “canon”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies