Meaning

• A generally accepted principle; a rule.

  "The trial must proceed according to the canons of law."

• A group of literary works that are generally accepted as representing a field.

• The works of a writer that have been accepted as authentic.

  "the entire Shakespeare canon"

• A eucharistic prayer, particularly the Roman Canon.

• A religious law or body of law decreed by the church.

  "We must proceed according to canon law."

• A catalogue of saints acknowledged and canonized in the Roman Catholic Church.

• In monasteries, a book containing the rules of a religious order.

• A member of a cathedral chapter; one who possesses a prebend in a cathedral or collegiate church.

• A piece of music in which the same melody is played by different voices, but beginning at different times; a round.

  "Pachelbel’s Canon has become very popular."

• (Roman law) A rent or stipend payable at some regular time, generally annual, e.g., canon frumentarius

• Those sources, especially including literary works, which are considered part of the main continuity regarding a given fictional universe.

  "A spin-off book series revealed the aliens to be originally from Earth, but it's not canon."

• A rolled and filleted loin of meat; also called cannon.

  "a canon of beef or lamb"

• A large size of type formerly used for printing the church canons, standardized as 48-point.

• The part of a bell by which it is suspended; the ear or shank of a bell.

• A carom.