canonical

adj, noun — 12 senses

canonical

adj

UK /kəˈnɒn.ɪ.kəl/ · CA, US /kəˈnɑ.nɪ.kəl/

Etymology From Middle English canonycal, from Medieval Latin canōnicālis. By surface analysis, canon + -ical.

10 senses
  1. 1Present in a canon, religious or otherwise.
  2. 2According to recognised or orthodox rules.
  3. 3Stated or used in the most basic and straightforwardly…
  4. 4Prototypical.
  5. 5In conformity with canon law.
  6. 6In the form of a canon.
  7. 7Of or pertaining to an ecclesiastical chapter.
  8. 8In canonical form.
  9. 9Distinguished among entities of its kind, so that it can…
  10. 10Related to or part of the canon of a fictional universe…
1

Present in a canon, religious or otherwise.

  • The Gospel of Luke is a canonical New Testament book.
  • In a word, they were made uſe of by the immediate ſucceſſors of the Apoſtles, and many of them read in the Public Aſſemblies of Chriſtians, as Canonical Scripture, without the leaſt mark of Diſtinction, in point of Autority[…]1732, George Reynolds, A diſſertation: or, Inquiry Concerning the Canonical Autority of the Goſpel according to Mathew; […] , 2nd edition, page 4:
2

According to recognised or orthodox rules.

  • The men played golf in the most canonical way, with no local rules.
  • While bills are being brought into the House of Commons to regulate every thing, from the sweeps crying "sweep," to "emancipation, vote by ballot, and free trade," is there no county member whose "time and talents" are devoted to "domestic policy," who will bring in a bill "for the better regulation of the marriage ceremony," and put the canonical hours later in the day?1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “(please specify the page)”, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, pages 158–159:
3

Stated or used in the most basic and straightforwardly applicable manner.

  • the reduction of a linear substitution to its canonical form
4

Prototypical.

5

Lifestyle, Religion In conformity with canon law.

6

Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music In the form of a canon.

7

Lifestyle, Religion Of or pertaining to an ecclesiastical chapter.

8

Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences In canonical form.

9

Mathematics, Sciences Distinguished among entities of its kind, so that it can be picked out in a way that does not depend on any arbitrary choices.

  • It turns out that ordered pairs can be defined in set theory, e.g. as (x,y)#58;#61;#92;#123;#92;#123;x,y#92;#125;,y#92;#125;. Note that in no sense is such a definition canonical.2011 July 2, Samson Abramsky with Nikos Tzevelekos, “Introduction to Categories and Categorical Logic”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), page 19:
10

Lifestyle Slang Related to or part of the canon of a fictional universe; officially part of a fictional work’s established continuity.

Synonyms
natural
Antonyms
apocryphal
Derived terms
34 termsacanonical, anticanonical, bicanonical, canonical conjunctive normal form, canonical disjunctive normal form, canonical ensemble, canonical form, canonical formalism, canonical hour, canonicalisation, canonicalise, canonicality, canonicalization, canonicalize, canonically, canonicalness, canonical obedience, canonical sequence, deuterocanonical, extracanonical, microcanonical, multicanonical, noncanonical, non-canonical, parabicanonical, paracanonical, pluricanonical, postcanonical, precanonical, protocanonical, semicanonical, subcanonical, supracanonical, uncanonical

canonical

noun

Etymology From Middle English canonycal, from Medieval Latin canōnicālis. By surface analysis, canon + -ical.

1

The formal robes of a priest.

  • He, good man, could make but little of his solitary friend, and must many a time have been startled out of his canonicals by the strange, alien speeches which he heard.1857, Various, The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 1, Issue 2, December, 1857:
  • Mr Altham rose, as in duty bound, in honour to a priest, and a priest who, as he dimly discerned by his canonicals, was not altogether a common one.1891, Emily Sarah Holt, The White Lady of Hazelwood:
1 more example
  • When I was a boy I was a passionate atheist, I defied God, and so far as God is the mere sanction of social traditions and pressures, a mere dressing up of the crowd's will in canonicals, I do still deny him and repudiate him.1915, H. G. Wells, The Research Magnificent:
2

Internet A URL presented in canonical form.

  • Google advises canonicals as one of the preferred methods of treating duplicate content in your CMS.2015, Simon Kloostra, Joomla! 3 SEO and Performance, page 63:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.