canonical
adjective
ca·non·i·cal
kə-ˈnä-ni-kəl 
1
: of, relating to, or forming a canon
canonical scriptures
2
: conforming to a general rule or acceptable procedure : orthodox
His proposals were generally accepted as canonical.
3
: of or relating to a clergyman who is a canon
4
: reduced to the canonical form
a canonical matrix
Examples of canonical in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Where is the canonical image of American scientific progress, of man going to space?
—
Doreen St. Félix, The New Yorker, 14 Dec. 2024
Despite producing at least two canonical entries to hip-hop’s Golden Age – Black Moon’s Enta da Stage and Smif-n-Wessun’s Dah Shinin’ — Da Beatminerz have often felt, unfairly, like a footnote to that celebrated era.
—Spin Team, SPIN, 28 Nov. 2024
But this is a company for whom beauty in design is also canonical, and more than ever the battle here is to reconcile aesthetics with aerodynamics.
—Jason Barlow, WIRED, 17 Oct. 2024
Likewise, though the comparison would probably embarrass him, David Cromer did something with Thornton Wilder’s Our Town in 2009 that manages, to this day, to keep haunting a play that’s as canonical as Romeo and Juliet, as curricular as To Kill a Mockingbird.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 10 Oct. 2024
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Doreen St. Félix, The New Yorker, 14 Dec. 2024
Despite producing at least two canonical entries to hip-hop’s Golden Age – Black Moon’s Enta da Stage and Smif-n-Wessun’s Dah Shinin’ — Da Beatminerz have often felt, unfairly, like a footnote to that celebrated era.
—Spin Team, SPIN, 28 Nov. 2024
But this is a company for whom beauty in design is also canonical, and more than ever the battle here is to reconcile aesthetics with aerodynamics.
—Jason Barlow, WIRED, 17 Oct. 2024
Likewise, though the comparison would probably embarrass him, David Cromer did something with Thornton Wilder’s Our Town in 2009 that manages, to this day, to keep haunting a play that’s as canonical as Romeo and Juliet, as curricular as To Kill a Mockingbird.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 10 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for canonical
Dictionary Entries Near canonical
Cite this Entry
“Canonical.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/canonical. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
canonical
adjective
ca·non·i·cal
kə-ˈnän-i-kəl
1
: relating to or allowed by church law
2
: following a general rule or accepted procedure
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