canonical
adjective
ca·non·i·cal
| \ kə-ˈnä-ni-kəl
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Definition of canonical
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Other Words from canonical
canonically
\ kə-ˈnä-ni-k(ə-)lē
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adverb
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adverb
Examples of canonical in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Any attempt to justify her claims on canonical grounds is immediately undermined by this direct rejection of the letter of the law. — Declan Leary, National Review, "What America Magazine Gets Wrong about the Mass," 24 July 2019 The Hungarian version is only a little more extreme, although, as far as canonical history is concerned, Hungarian origins are already fairly spectacular. — Jacob Mikanowski, Harper's magazine, "The Call of the Drums," 21 July 2019 Curatorial fandom worships and upholds the source text above all else, rather than deconstructing it, or challenging its canonical authority. — Aja Romano, Vox, "Why the ending of Game of Thrones elevated the worst of fan culture," 20 July 2019 The roots of factor investing go back at least as far as a canonical paper in 1992 by Eugene Fama, a Nobel-prizewinning economist, and Kenneth French. — The Economist, "Lots of investors bet on “factors”, such as size, value and momentum," 18 July 2019 The fight over the effects of raising the minimum wage goes back to the 1990s, when economists Alan Krueger and David Card published trailblazing work casting doubt on the canonical understanding that artificial wage floors kill jobs. — Lydia Depillis, CNN, "A $15 minimum wage started as a slogan. This week, it's set to pass the House," 15 July 2019 These peculiar features are not definitively explained by the canonical hypothesis. — Simon J. Lock, Scientific American, "When Earth and the Moon Were One," 2 July 2019 For the long-time fan, original prints of canonical works will prove a big draw (pardon the pun), as will displays of the historical prints and fabrics that have influenced the modern form. — L.m., The Economist, "A magnificent exhibition of manga at the British Museum," 5 June 2019 And just as there’s no doubting the canonical impact of the album, the same can be said for its cover. — Zachary Lipez, Washington Post, "How Joy Division’s ‘Unknown Pleasures’ image went from underground album cover to a piece of cultural ubiquity," 14 June 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'canonical.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for canonical
canonical
adjective
English Language Learners Definition of canonical
: connected with or allowed by the laws of the Christian church
: of or relating to the books that are considered to be part of a religion's official text
: of or relating to the group of books, plays, poems, etc., that are traditionally considered to be very important
See the full definition for canonical in the English Language Learners Dictionary
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