Canonical

//kəˈnɒn.ɪ.kəl// adj, noun, slang

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Present in a canon, religious or otherwise.

    "The Gospel of Luke is a canonical New Testament book."

  2. 2
    According to recognised or orthodox rules.

    "The men played golf in the most canonical way, with no local rules."

  3. 3
    Stated or used in the most basic and straightforwardly applicable manner.

    "the reduction of a linear substitution to its canonical form"

  4. 4
    Prototypical.
  5. 5
    In conformity with canon law.
Show 5 more definitions
  1. 6
    In the form of a canon.
  2. 7
    Of or pertaining to an ecclesiastical chapter.
  3. 8
    In canonical form.
  4. 9
    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."

  5. 10
    Related to or part of the canon of a fictional universe. slang
Adjective
  1. 1
    conforming to orthodox or recognized rules wordnet
  2. 2
    reduced to the simplest and most significant form possible without loss of generality wordnet
  3. 3
    of or relating to or required by canon law wordnet
  4. 4
    appearing in a biblical canon wordnet
Noun
  1. 1
    The formal robes of a priest. plural, plural-only

    "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."

  2. 2
    A URL presented in canonical form. Internet

    "Google advises canonicals as one of the preferred methods of treating duplicate content in your CMS."

Etymology

Etymology 1

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

Etymology 2

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

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