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
In the canonical metaphorical example, a butterfly flaps its wings in Brazil, and the cascading sequence of atmospheric perturbations leads to a tornado in Texas.
—
Dan Garisto, Scientific American, 22 Oct. 2025
Archbishop Shawn McKnight has launched a preliminary canonical investigation into the issue as well, the archdiocese said, and Storey has been temporarily suspended from priestly ministry, including celebrating Mass and performing pastoral duties.
—Judy L. Thomas, Kansas City Star, 22 Sep. 2025
For a long stretch of its opening act, All the President’s Men—the canonical paranoid thriller from 1976—isn’t just about the brewing Watergate scandal, or about the battle between a cagey political machine and an enterprising newspaper.
—K. Austin Collins, The Atlantic, 16 Sep. 2025
The canonical work of Edward Curtis established the tragic view and elegiac rhetoric of Native people as noble savages unassimilable to Progress and hence destined for cultural, if not biological, extinction.
—Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for canonical
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Dan Garisto, Scientific American, 22 Oct. 2025
Archbishop Shawn McKnight has launched a preliminary canonical investigation into the issue as well, the archdiocese said, and Storey has been temporarily suspended from priestly ministry, including celebrating Mass and performing pastoral duties.
—Judy L. Thomas, Kansas City Star, 22 Sep. 2025
For a long stretch of its opening act, All the President’s Men—the canonical paranoid thriller from 1976—isn’t just about the brewing Watergate scandal, or about the battle between a cagey political machine and an enterprising newspaper.
—K. Austin Collins, The Atlantic, 16 Sep. 2025
The canonical work of Edward Curtis established the tragic view and elegiac rhetoric of Native people as noble savages unassimilable to Progress and hence destined for cultural, if not biological, extinction.
—Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for canonical
Cite this Entry
“Canonical.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/canonical. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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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