Link Centre Dictionary

canonical

ca·no·ni·cal

UK/kəˈnɒn.ɪ.kəl/ US/kəˈnɒn.ɪ.kɫ̩/ uncommon slang

adjective

1.

appearing in a Biblical canon

  • “a canonical book of the Christian New Testament”
Synonyms
2.

of or relating to or required by canon law

Synonyms
3.

reduced to the simplest and most significant form possible without loss of generality

  • “a basic story line”
  • “a canonical syllable pattern”
Synonyms
Similar
4.

conforming to orthodox or recognized rules

  • “the drinking of cocktails was as canonical a rite as the mixing” Sinclair Lewis
Synonyms
Similar

Origin

From Middle English canonycal, from Medieval Latin canōnicālis. By surface analysis, canon + -ical.

Phrases

  • canonical conjunctive normal form
  • canonical disjunctive normal form
  • canonical ensemble
  • canonical form
  • canonical formalism
  • canonical hour
  • canonical obedience
  • canonical sequence

Related words

Word family

Pertaining to

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.