Noun

(en noun)

A generally accepted principle; a rule.

The trial must proceed according to the canons of law.

* Shakespeare

Or that the Everlasting had not fixed His canon 'gainst self-slaughter.

(literary) A group of literary works that are generally accepted as representing a field.

(turn into real quote) "the durable canon of American short fiction" — William Styron

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

the entire Shakespeare canon

A eucharistic prayer, particularly the Roman Canon.

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

We must proceed according to canon law.

A catalogue of saints acknowledged and canonized in the Roman Catholic Church.

In monasteries, a book containing the rules of a religious order.

A member of a cathedral chapter; one who possesses a prebend in a cathedral or collegiate church.

A 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.

(fandom) Those sources, especially including literary works, which are generally considered authoritative regarding a given fictional universe.

A spin-off book series revealed the aliens to be originally from Earth, but it's not canon .

(cookery) A rolled and filleted loin of meat.

a canon of beef or lamb

(printing) The largest size of type with a specific name, formerly used for printing the canons of the church.

(senseid)The part of a bell by which it is suspended; the ear or shank of a bell.

(Knight)

(billiards) A carom.

Noun

Lack of interruption or disconnection; the quality of being continuous in space or time.

Considerable continuity of attention is needed to read German philosophy.

(uncountable, mathematics) A characteristic property of a continuous function.

*

A narrative device in episodic fiction where previous and/or future events in a story series are accounted for in present stories.

* {{quote-news

, year=2012 , date=April 29 , author=Nathan Rabin , title=TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Treehouse of Horror III” (season 4, episode 5; originally aired 10/29/1992) citation , page= , passage=In “Treehouse Of Horror” episodes, the rules aren’t just different—they don’t even exist. If writers want Homer to kill Flanders or for a segment to end with a marriage between a woman and a giant ape, they can do so without worrying about continuity or consistency or fans griping that the gang is behaving out of character.}}