Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use canon in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun

Canon means a generally accepted principle; a rule. Example: “The trial must proceed according to the canons of law.”

Examples of canon by meaning

nounA generally accepted principle; a rule.

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

nounA formally codified set of criteria deemed mandatory for a particular artistic style of figurative art.

  • the Canon of Polykleitos

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

  • Russo had been working as a salesman, selling Great Books of the Western World, hawking the canon to the rubes.1992 February 2, Mitzel, “Clay Shaw, The Quean Network & That Kennedy Killing”, in Gay Community News, volume 19, number 28, page 12
  • the durable canon of American short fiction2015, William Styron, “Irwin Shaw”, in My Generation: Collected Nonfiction, page 456

nounThe works of a writer that have been accepted as authentic.

  • the entire Shakespearean canon

nounA religious law or body of law decreed by the church.

  • We must proceed according to canon law.

nounA 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.

nounA rent or stipend payable at some regular time, generally annual, e.g., canon frumentarius.

  • The lessees of public lands had to pay a perpetual rent or "canon" at some periodical time.1919 January, Charles P. Sherman, “A Brief History of Imperial Roman Canon Law”, in California Law Review, volume 7, number 2, Berkeley...

nounThe officially recognized continuity, events, characters, relationships, etc. of a work of fiction.

  • A spin-off book series revealed the aliens to be originally from Earth, but it's not canon.
  • And none of this is canon, so just relax.2014, Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars

More sentences with canon

  • The canon law on this matter conflicts with several other canon laws.From the entry canon law
  • In many churches some pews are reserved for either clerical or liturgical officials such as canons, or for prominent families.From the entry pew
  • Canon law determines who is declared a saint.From the entry canon law
  • In Hunter's case, the stories varied between canon, pre-canon, and post-canon events.2024, Jimena Benites-Aquino, Arnau Gifreu-Castells, Yasmin Sayan-Casquino, “The Representation of Autistic Characters in the Fanfictions…. From the entry precanon
  • What about the exclusive nature of the Western literary canon, venerated by dark academics?2021 March 17, Aarushi Nohria, “Decolonizing the dark academia aesthetic”, in The Daily Campus, archived from the original on 17 Mar 2021. From the entry dark academic
  • Adverse possession was a legal maneuver straight out of the Sovereign Citizen canon.2019, Anthony McCann, Shadowlands: Fear and Freedom at the Oregon Standoff, Bloomsbury, →ISBN. From the entry adverse possession
  • I don't think there was a singular emotion to describe the moment Bubbline became canon.2018, Stephanie Chang, "When 'Bubbline' Became Canon", Her Culture, October/November 2018, page 69. From the entry Bubbline
  • It feels a bit Brexity: a pained cry from the past, “We want our Shakespearean canon back!”2016 October 26, David Greig, “Emma Rice’s exit from Shakespeare’s Globe feels a bit Brexity”, in New Statesman. From the entry Brexity
  • In canon law the loss of a nose could plausibly mean the termination of a marriage.2015, Valeria Finucci, The Prince's Body: Vincenzo Gonzaga and Renaissance Medicine. From the entry rhinoplast
  • The juxtaposition of his literary and letterly writing is revealing of both canons.2014, James G. Watson, William Faulkner, Letters & Fictions. From the entry letterly
  • Often colloquially called chalice bearers or chalicists, these are now designated by canon as Eucharistic Ministers.2012, Beth Wickenberg Ely, The Cup of Salvation: A Manual for lay Eucharistic Ministries, illustrated edition, Church Publishing, Inc.…. From the entry chalicist
  • To Team Edward, the canon pairing with the stoic, troubled, immortal 17-year-old is unquestionable.2010, Liv Spencer, Love Bites: The Unofficial Saga of Twilight, ECW Press, →ISBN, page 192. From the entry Team Edward
  • The liturgical form of hymn which replaced the kontakion was the canon, a set of nine hymns.2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 454. From the entry kontakion
  • I feel canon & commerce do not acknowledge gratitude deep & often enough to fanficdom!2009 May 15, Alan Heah, “Re: NEW AOS; Dear Jim (Spock Prime), PG, 1/1 (Short Piece)”, in alt.startrek.creative (Usenet). From the entry fanficdom
  • Zijes are comprised of a set of canons and a set of tables.2003, José Chabás, Bernard R. Goldstein, “Astronomical Commentary”, in The Alfonsine Tables of Toledo. From the entry zij
  • There is much at work in this discussion of canon and orature.1997, Jace Weaver, “Native American Literatures and Communitism”, in That the People Might Live: Native American Literatures and Native…. From the entry orature
  • Canon Collins urged the electors to reject the candidate nominated by the Crown, Dr.1961 August 14, “Canon Causes Stir At Church Election”, in The Age, Australia, retrieved 30 Oct 2013, page 11. From the entry better dead than red
  • This was, by every earthly canon, a good man, but a stern and unsupple.1918, Mary Johnston, Foes. From the entry unsupple
  • In my book, Kastle is as good as canon already.2025 April 20, u/CassOfNowhere, “Born Again showrunner on Kastle”, in r/Defenders (Reddit post), archived from the original on 06 May 2026. From the entry Kastle
  • Hannibal went further though, elevating the subtext into text by making Hannigram arguably canon by the end of season 3.2021, Kirsty Worrow, “My Darling Cannibal: The Mechanics of Perverse Allegiance in Hannibal”, in Kyle A. Moody, Nicholas A. Yanes…. From the entry Hannigram
  • It has now been a month since my last letter to you, and Reylo is closer to becoming canon than ever.2018, anonymous author, “Letters to Editors”, in Lot's Wife, Monash University, Edition 2 (2018), page 3. From the entry Reylo
  • In one extreme case, a fan threatened to leak spoilers unless Klance (the pairing of Keith and Lance) was made canon.2018 July, Shamus Kelley, “#LanceIsBi”, in Den of Geek, page 23. From the entry Klance
  • Not all psalms that claim Davidic authorship were included in the canon, but those that were canonized frequently had this association.2017, Timothy H. Lim, “An Indicative Definition of the Canon”, in Timothy H. Lim with Kengo Akiyama, editors, When Texts are Canonized…. From the entry canonize
  • Or perhaps anything from Axe's mid-pubescent canon.2017, Why Sexy Ads Don't Make Money, Esquire. From the entry mid-pubescent
  • The three of us would lahdidah to the Luxembourg Gardens, where we read Alchemy the French canon of subversive lit.2015, Bruce Bauman, Broken Sleep, Other Press, LLC, →ISBN. From the entry flaneur
  • Back then, it was the conservative backlash to canon reformation that blew hot with the gusty rhetoric of politics.2010, Henry Louis Gates, Tradition and the Black Atlantic. From the entry gusty
  • The application of substantive canons typically overenforces the Constitution.2010, Amy Coney Barrett, “SUBSTANTIVE CANONS AND FAITHFUL AGENCY”, in Boston University Law Review, volume 90, number 109, page 176. From the entry overenforcement
  • Canon Bryan Rowe, quoted in the article.2009 November 23, agency., “Cockermouth starts journey back from flood devastation”, in The Guardian. From the entry twining
  • For instance, one fan might create an OC or Original Character that does not exist in the primary media canon.2008, Rebecca W. Black, Adolescents and Online Fan Fiction, Peter Lang, published 2008, →ISBN, page 40. From the entry oc
  • Tzetnik, the first author to tell the story of Auschwitz in Hebrew and a hero of the mainstream Holocaust literary canon.2007 September 6, Isabel Kershner, “Israel’s Unexpected Spinoff From a Holocaust Trial”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New…. From the entry stalag

Meaning of canon

  1. noun A generally accepted principle; a rule.
  2. noun A formally codified set of criteria deemed mandatory for a particular artistic style of figurative art.
  3. noun A group of literary works that are generally accepted as representing a field.

Full definition of canon

Questions about canon in a sentence

How do you use canon in a sentence?
Canon is used as a noun. For example: “The trial must proceed according to the canons of law.”
What is a short sentence with canon?
“the Canon of Polykleitos”
What does canon mean?
Canon means a generally accepted principle; a rule.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: canon (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use canon in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/canon. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.