canon

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈka.noːn]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkaː.non]^[1]

Forms

canōn m (genitive canonis); third declension^[1] Pliny the Elder has the Greek accusative canona, and Cicero writes it in Greek letters.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek κανών (kanṓn, “measuring rod, rule, standard”), related to κάννα (kánna, “reed”), perhaps from a Semitic word like Biblical Hebrew קנה (qaneh, “reed”).^[3][1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source and the OLD's first citation are from Vitruvius, of the soundboard of a water organ.^[4][3] Köbler dates Vitruvius c. 84–c. 25 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In Vitruvius it was the soundboard of a water organ, and in Pliny the Elder a model or standard.^[3][2] Isidore explains that canōn in Greek is rēgula “rule” in Latin.^[5]

In Late and Medieval Latin it was a grammatical rule, a metrical scheme, a periodical payment, the list of books of the Bible acknowledged by the Church, the Bible itself, the canon of the Mass, a rule of life for clergy and monks, a decree of a council, and a relic.^[6] In Ecclesiastical Latin it was also a catalogue of saints and a church title.^[7] British Medieval Latin used it for church rules and canon law, as in Bede.^[8] Old English borrowed it as canon, the source of English canon “a rule of the Church”.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of a soundboard.^[3][4]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of a model.^[3][4]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore glosses it as rēgula.^[5][4]
• 673 – Bede reports the council of Hertford meeting according to the canons.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. The soundboard of a water organ.^[3]
2. A model, standard.^[3]
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A Rule, norm; a decree of a council; canon law.^[6][7][8]
4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) The list of the books of the Bible; the canon of the Mass; a catalogue of saints.^[6][7]
5. (Medieval Latin) A periodical payment.^[6]

Word family

• canonicus
• canōnizō

Related words

• rēgula
• English canon

Usage notes

A separate Medieval Latin canōn “cannon”, from canna “pipe”, is recorded by Niermeyer.^[6][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
6. ^ a b c d e Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
9. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com