From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
canonic \ca*non"ic\ (k[.a]*n[o^]n"[i^]k), canonical
\ca*non"ic*al\ (k[.a]*n[o^]n"[i^]*kal), a. [L. canonicus, LL.
canonicalis, fr. L. canon: cf. F. canonique. See {canon}.]
Of or pertaining to a canon; established by, or according to,
a canon or canons. "The oath of canonical obedience."
--Hallam.
[1913 Webster]
2. Appearing in a Biblical canon; as, a canonical book of the
Christian New Testament.
[PJC]
3. Accepted as authoritative; recognized.
[PJC]
4. (Math.) In its standard form, usually also the simplest
form; -- of an equation or coordinate.
[PJC]
5. (Linguistics) Reduced to the simplest and most significant
form possible without loss of generality; as, a canonical
syllable pattern. Opposite of {nonstandard}.
Syn: standard. [WordNet 1.5]
6. Pertaining to or resembling a musical canon.
[PJC]
{Canonical books}, or {Canonical Scriptures}, those books
which are declared by the canons of the church to be of
divine inspiration; -- called collectively {the canon}.
The Roman Catholic Church holds as canonical several books
which Protestants reject as apocryphal.
{Canonical epistles}, an appellation given to the epistles
called also general or catholic. See {Catholic epistles},
under {Canholic}.
{Canonical form} (Math.), the simples or most symmetrical
form to which all functions of the same class can be
reduced without lose of generality.
{Canonical hours}, certain stated times of the day, fixed by
ecclesiastical laws, and appropriated to the offices of
prayer and devotion; also, certain portions of the
Breviary, to be used at stated hours of the day. In
England, this name is also given to the hours from 8 a. m.
to 3 p. m. (formerly 8 a. m. to 12 m.) before and after
which marriage can not be legally performed in any parish
church.
{Canonical letters}, letters of several kinds, formerly given
by a bishop to traveling clergymen or laymen, to show that
they were entitled to receive the communion, and to
distinguish them from heretics.
{Canonical life}, the method or rule of living prescribed by
the ancient clergy who lived in community; a course of
living prescribed for the clergy, less rigid than the
monastic, and more restrained that the secular.
{Canonical obedience}, submission to the canons of a church,
especially the submission of the inferior clergy to their
bishops, and of other religious orders to their superiors.
{Canonical punishments}, such as the church may inflict, as
excommunication, degradation, penance, etc.
{Canonical sins} (Anc. Church.), those for which capital
punishment or public penance decreed by the canon was
inflicted, as idolatry, murder, adultery, heresy.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
canonical
adj 1: appearing in a biblical canon; "a canonical book of the
Christian New Testament" [syn: {canonic}, {canonical}]
2: of or relating to or required by canon law [syn: {canonic},
{canonical}]
3: reduced to the simplest and most significant form possible
without loss of generality; "a basic story line"; "a
canonical syllable pattern" [syn: {basic}, {canonic},
{canonical}]
4: conforming to orthodox or recognized rules; "the drinking of
cocktails was as canonical a rite as the mixing"- Sinclair
Lewis [syn: {canonic}, {canonical}, {sanctioned}]
From The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003) [jargon]:
canonical
adj.
[very common; historically, ?according to religious law?] The usual or
standard state or manner of something. This word has a somewhat more
technical meaning in mathematics. Two formulas such as 9 + x and x + 9 are
said to be equivalent because they mean the same thing, but the second one
is in canonical form because it is written in the usual way, with the
highest power of x first. Usually there are fixed rules you can use to
decide whether something is in canonical form. The jargon meaning, a
relaxation of the technical meaning, acquired its present loading in
computer-science culture largely through its prominence in Alonzo Church's
work in computation theory and mathematical logic (see {Knights of the
Lambda Calculus}). Compare {vanilla}.
Non-technical academics do not use the adjective ?canonical? in any of the
senses defined above with any regularity; they do however use the nouns
canon and canonicity (not **canonicalness or **canonicality). The canon of
a given author is the complete body of authentic works by that author (this
usage is familiar to Sherlock Holmes fans as well as to literary scholars).
?The canon? is the body of works in a given field (e.g., works of
literature, or of art, or of music) deemed worthwhile for students to study
and for scholars to investigate.
The word ?canon? has an interesting history. It derives ultimately from the
Greek ????? (akin to the English ?cane?) referring to a reed. Reeds were
used for measurement, and in Latin and later Greek the word ?canon? meant a
rule or a standard. The establishment of a canon of scriptures within
Christianity was meant to define a standard or a rule for the religion. The
above non-techspeak academic usages stem from this instance of a defined
and accepted body of work. Alongside this usage was the promulgation of
?canons? (?rules?) for the government of the Catholic Church. The techspeak
usages (?according to religious law?) derive from this use of the Latin
?canon?.
Hackers invest this term with a playfulness that makes an ironic contrast
with its historical meaning. A true story: One Bob Sjoberg, new at the MIT
AI Lab, expressed some annoyance at the incessant use of jargon. Over his
loud objections, GLS and RMS made a point of using as much of it as
possible in his presence, and eventually it began to sink in. Finally, in
one conversation, he used the word canonical in jargon-like fashion without
thinking. Steele: ?Aha! We've finally got you talking jargon too!?
Stallman: ?What did he say?? Steele: ?Bob just used ?canonical? in the
canonical way.?
Of course, canonicality depends on context, but it is implicitly defined as
the way hackers normally expect things to be. Thus, a hacker may claim with
a straight face that ?according to religious law? is not the canonical
meaning of canonical.
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