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

(en noun)

The action of directing; pointing (something) or looking towards.

* 1835 , Sir , Sir (James Clark Ross), Narrative of a Second Voyage in Search of a North-west Passage …, Volume 1 , pp.284-5

Towards the following morning, the thermometer fell to 5°; and at daylight, there was not an atom of water to be seen in any direction .

Guidance, instruction.

The work of the director in cinema or theater; the skill of directing a film, play etc.

(archaic) An address.

* 1796 , , (The Monk) , Folio Society 1985, p. 218:

Her aunt Leonella was still at Cordova, and she knew not her direction .

The path or course of a given movement, or moving body; an indication of the point toward or from which an object is moving.

*

, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4 , passage=Judge Short had gone to town, and Farrar was off for a three days' cruise up the lake. I was bitterly regretting I had not gone with him when the distant notes of a coach horn reached my ear, and I descried a four-in-hand winding its way up the inn road from the direction of Mohair.}}

* 1900 , , (The House Behind the Cedars) , Chapter I,

Just before Warwick reached Liberty Point, a young woman came down Front Street from the direction of the market-house. When their paths converged, Warwick kept on down Front Street behind her, it having been already his intention to walk in this direction .