canonical

[ kuh-non-i-kuhl ]

/ kəˈnɒn ɪ kəl /

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See synonyms for canonical on Thesaurus.com

adjective Also ca·non·ic.

pertaining to, established by, or conforming to a canon or canons.

included in the canon of the Bible.

authorized; recognized; accepted: canonical works.

Mathematics. (of an equation, coordinate, etc.) in simplest or standard form.

following the pattern of a musical canon.

Linguistics. (of a form or pattern) characteristic, general or basic: the canonical form of the past tense; a canonical syllable pattern.

noun

canonicals, garments prescribed by canon law for clergy when officiating.

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Origin of canonical

1150–1200; Middle English (<Anglo-French ) <Medieval Latin canōnicālis, equivalent to canōnic(us) (see canon²) + -ālis-al¹

OTHER WORDS FROM canonical

ca·non·i·cal·ly, adverbsu·per·ca·non·i·cal, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use canonical in a sentence

This single voter fraud study has become canonical among conservative, and many of today’s other claims of fraud—such as through mail-in voting—also trace back to it.
How claims of voter fraud were supercharged by bad science|Bobbie Johnson|November 1, 2020|MIT Technology Review
At that point, the fix for the canonical issue was only 55% fixed at that point.
99% of Google’s indexing issues fully resolved|Barry Schwartz|October 19, 2020|Search Engine Land
Google has restored about 55% of the URLs impacted by the canonical issue.
Status update on the Google indexing bugs|Barry Schwartz|October 9, 2020|Search Engine Land
So the canonical issues still have some time to be fully fixed.
Status update on the Google indexing bugs|Barry Schwartz|October 9, 2020|Search Engine Land

Google also added that it may not index pages “if the canonical issue is involved, URL Inspector may show the URL as a duplicate & the Google-selected canonical will be different from it.”
Google confirms indexing issues with both canonicalization and mobile-indexing|Barry Schwartz|October 1, 2020|Search Engine Land
Less canonically, “natural marriage” is also at times used as a rough synonym for “common-law marriage.”
What Is ‘Natural Marriage?’|Michelle Cottle|March 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The canonically approved story of Hanukkah is an exceedingly strange one.
The Real Story of Hanukkah|David Frum|December 15, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The two next classes wear it and are canonically and ceremonially entitled.
Cultus Arborum|Anonymous
Though erected canonically in October, 1643, they only took simple vows and they had not yet received the approbation of Rome.
Montreal 1535-1914 under the French Rgime|William Henry Atherton
Mine's too short'—here he rubbed his glossy brown pate, canonically cropped.
The Crooked Stick|Rolf Boldrewood
But he declined the honour, and he was nominated to the English primacy as soon as Stigand had been canonically deposed .
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 16, Slice 2|Various
His principle evidently was, that it was far better for men to be uncanonically saved than canonically damned.
A Sketch of the Life and Labors of George Whitefield|John Charles Ryle

British Dictionary definitions for canonical

canonical

canonic

/ (kəˈnɒnɪkəl) /

adjective

belonging to or included in a canon of sacred or other officially recognized writings

belonging to or in conformity with canon law

according to recognized law; accepted

music in the form of a canon

of or relating to a cathedral chapter

of or relating to a canon (clergyman)

Derived forms of canonical

canonically, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

canonical

Origin of canonical

OTHER WORDS FROM canonical

Words related to canonical

How to use canonical in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for canonical

canonic

Derived forms of canonical