can·on1 ( P ) Pronunciation Key (knn)
n.
An ecclesiastical law or code of laws established by a church council.
A secular law, rule, or code of law.
An established principle: the canons of polite society.
A basis for judgment; a standard or criterion.
The books of the Bible officially accepted as Holy Scripture.
A group of literary works that are generally accepted as representing a field: ?the durable canon of American short fiction? (William Styron).
The works of a writer that have been accepted as authentic: the entire Shakespeare canon.
Canon The part of the Mass beginning after the Preface and Sanctus and ending just before the Lord's Prayer.
The calendar of saints accepted by the Roman Catholic Church.
Music. A composition or passage in which a melody is imitated by one or more voices at fixed intervals of pitch and time.
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[Middle English canoun, from Old English canon, and from Old French both from Latin cann, rule, from Greek kann, measuring rod, rule.]
http://dictionary.reference.com/thought this would help, there is a little diescreptency on it from time to time, nothing beg