extracanonical

American

[ek-struh-kuh-non-i-kuhl] / ˌɛk strə kəˈnɒn ɪ kəl /

adjective

Ecclesiastical.

not included in the canon of Scripture.

extracanonical British

/ ˌɛkstrəkəˈnɒnɪkəl /

adjective

Christianity not included in the canon of Scripture

"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

Etymology

Origin of extracanonical

First recorded in 1825–35; extra- + canonical

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

extracanonical

In 2 Maccabees, Judas Maccabeus offers prayers for the dead—meaningful only if the soul can be aided after death—but Protestants typically consider the book extracanonical.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2025

And the film needlessly introduces extracanonical vampire lore.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 11, 2022

Tóibín engages these questions with an extracanonical third-person relation of the adventures and exploits of Orestes in exile.

From Seattle Times ● May 26, 2017

We spoke above of the new conception of the relation of the canonical literature of the New Testament to the extracanonical.

From An Outline of the History of Christian Thought Since Kant by Edward Caldwell Moore

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023