1
as in doctrines
a statement or body of statements concerning faith or morals proclaimed by a church
members of the church must abide by its canons
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in lists
a record of a series of items (as names or titles) usually arranged according to some system
the canon of plays that are attributed to William Shakespeare
Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in laws
a collection or system of rules of conduct
the ABA Model Code of Professional Responsibility is a lawyer's canon
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of canons
There are no canons of forgery in Quintilian’s Institutes or Cicero.
—
JSTOR Daily, 16 Oct. 2025
The confetti canons that blast moments later are blinding.
—Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 4 Oct. 2025
Confetti canons shot out glittering rainbows, and Derevjanik began to dance around, shouting in glee.
—Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 1 Oct. 2025
On Tuesday, the District Administration Office in Kathmandu said government forces used water canons, tear gas, and rubber bullets in an attempt to clamp down on protests.
—Juliana Kim, NPR, 10 Sep. 2025
Peppard believes that before organizations can deliver on the transformational potential of AI, or indeed any transformational technology, there are multiple canons defining the dominant orthodoxy that must be tackled head-on.
—Randy Bean, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
Police used water canons and fired rounds of tear gas to push back the demonstrators, who hurled bottles, rocks and flares at them.
—CNN Money, 29 Aug. 2025
Such lists and canons will always be flawed, partial, and contested.
—Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2025
The canons instead succumbed to Tanchelm’s influence and began to follow him themselves.
—Michael Robbins, Harpers Magazine, 20 Aug. 2025
JSTOR Daily, 16 Oct. 2025
The confetti canons that blast moments later are blinding.
—Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 4 Oct. 2025
Confetti canons shot out glittering rainbows, and Derevjanik began to dance around, shouting in glee.
—Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 1 Oct. 2025
On Tuesday, the District Administration Office in Kathmandu said government forces used water canons, tear gas, and rubber bullets in an attempt to clamp down on protests.
—Juliana Kim, NPR, 10 Sep. 2025
Peppard believes that before organizations can deliver on the transformational potential of AI, or indeed any transformational technology, there are multiple canons defining the dominant orthodoxy that must be tackled head-on.
—Randy Bean, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
Police used water canons and fired rounds of tear gas to push back the demonstrators, who hurled bottles, rocks and flares at them.
—CNN Money, 29 Aug. 2025
Such lists and canons will always be flawed, partial, and contested.
—Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2025
The canons instead succumbed to Tanchelm’s influence and began to follow him themselves.
—Michael Robbins, Harpers Magazine, 20 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for canons
Noun
-
Courts, for their part, developed legal doctrines that require them to presume the President’s good faith in deferring to him.—
Jeannie Suk Gersen,
New Yorker,
12 Oct. 2025
-
To operate effectively, coalition forces need joint doctrines, training cycles, and logistics systems.—
Kapil Kajal,
Interesting Engineering,
15 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
While the technology often appears tacked on to lists of renewable energy resources like wind and solar, battery energy storage systems are finally having their own moment.—
Sophie Hartley,
IndyStar,
4 Nov. 2025
-
Thai content generated more than 750 million viewership hours on Netflix in 2024 alone, with over 15 Thai titles reaching the platform’s global top 10 non-English lists.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
4 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
The president’s comments come after his administration expanded a federal program that deputizes local police to enforce immigration laws, signing up nearly 16,000 officers across 40 states as part of an effort to boost deportations, according to data reviewed by Bloomberg News.—
Sasha Rogelberg,
Fortune,
3 Nov. 2025
-
Trump is setting rates by bypassing laws that require a more detailed process for imposing tariffs in limited circumstances.—
Maureen Groppe,
USA Today,
2 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
The Bold and the Beautiful airs weekdays on CBS (check local listings).—
Charna Flam,
PEOPLE,
30 Oct. 2025
-
The global competition for IPOs can seem cutthroat at times, as exchanges pitch friendly regulations, investor knowledge, and deeper pools of capital to win listings from their competitors.—
Nicholas Gordon,
Fortune,
29 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
That’s true enough — but constitutions can be changed.—
David Weigel,
semafor.com,
29 Oct. 2025
-
Many had helped create state constitutions that included pioneering bills of rights.—
Donald Nieman,
The Conversation,
7 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
With a sense of duty — common among Indigenous Americans, who have historically served in the military at a per capita rate higher than any other ethnic group — the men used their language to exchange codes in Tlingit while having no idea what military intelligence was doing with the information.—
Tim Trudell,
USA Today,
4 Nov. 2025
-
Looking to his reputation as a hard-working and brilliant designer, Anderson surely has the ability to blend in with the Dior DNA, juggling its strong heritage and codes, and placing the house in good stead for a revival.—
Vogue Business Team,
Vogue,
4 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Canons.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/canons. Accessed 6 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share