- of, according to, or ordered by church canon
- authoritative; accepted
- belonging to the canon of the Bible
- of a canon (clergyman)
Origin of canonical
Middle English from Ecclesiastical Medieval Latin canonicalis
adjective
The definition of canonical is accepted or according to the church or Bible.
An example of something canonical is the set of Ten Commandments.
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canonical
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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"canonical." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 22 March 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/canonical>.
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canonical. (n.d.). Retrieved March 22nd, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/canonical
canonical
also ca·non·ic
adjective
- Of, relating to, or required by canon law.
- Of or appearing in the biblical canon.
- Conforming to orthodox or well-established rules or patterns, as of procedure.
- Of or belonging to a cathedral chapter.
- Of or relating to a literary canon: a canonical writer like Keats.
- Music Having the form of a canon.
Related Forms:
- ca·non′i·cal·ly
adverb
- can′on·ic′i·ty
noun
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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MLA Style
"canonical." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 22 March 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/canonical>.
APA Style
canonical. (n.d.). Retrieved March 22nd, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/canonical
Adjective
(comparative more canonical, superlative most canonical)
- Present in a canon, religious or otherwise.
- The Gospel of Luke is a canonical New Testament book.
- According to recognised or orthodox rules.
- The men played golf in the most canonical way, with no local rules.
- Stated or used in the most basic and straightforwardly applicable manner.
- the reduction of a linear substitution to its canonical form
- Prototypical.
- (religion) In conformity with canon law.
- (music) In the form of a canon.
- (religion) Of or pertaining to an ecclesiastical chapter
- (mathematics, computing) In canonical form.
- (mathematics) Distinguished among entities of its kind, so that it can be picked out in a way that does not depend on any arbitrary choices.
Origin
canon + -ical
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
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"canonical." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 22 March 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/canonical>.
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canonical. (n.d.). Retrieved March 22nd, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/canonical
canonical - Computer Definition
The standard or authoritative method. The term comes from "canon," which is the law or rules of the church. See canonical name and canonical synthesis.
Computer Desktop Encyclopedia THIS DEFINITION IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY All other reproduction is strictly prohibited without permission from the publisher. © 1981-2017 The Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved.
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"canonical." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 22 March 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/canonical>.
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canonical. (n.d.). Retrieved March 22nd, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/canonical
Sentence Examples
- The emperor renounced investiture by ring and staff, and permitted canonical elections; the pope on his part recognized the king's right to perform lay investiture and to assist at elections.
- In the canonical form f=k1(px)5 +k2(gx) 5 +k3(rx) 5 .
- For the history of Pali before the canonical books were composed we have no direct evidence.
- They must therefore have been regarded as canonical in the first half of the 4th century.
- In all cases canonical institution (which confers ecclesiastical jurisdiction) is reserved to the pope or the bishops.
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