canonical adjective - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes | Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com

Definition of canonical adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

canonical

adjective
 
/kəˈnɒnɪkl/
 
/kəˈnɑːnɪkl/
(also canonic)
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  1. included in a list of holy books that are accepted as what they are claimed to be
    • the canonical Gospels of the New Testament
    Topics Literature and writingc2, Religion and festivalsc2
  2. according to the law of the Christian Church
    • canonical rules
    Topics Religion and festivalsc2
  3. accepted as belonging to the group of writers or works of literature that must be highly respected
    • canonical writers like Jane Austen
  4. accepted as being true, correct and established
    • the canonical methods of science as taught in the classroom
  5. (specialist) in the simplest accepted form in mathematics
    • the standard canonical form for a matrix
  6. Word Originlate Middle English: from medieval Latin canonicalis, from Latin canonicus ‘canonical’, from Greek kanonikos, from kanon ‘rule’.
See canonical in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee canonical in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English

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