Canon, an ecclesiastical dignitary who possesses a prebend, or revenue allotted for the performance of divine service in a cathedral or collegiate church. Canons were originally priests who lived in community, appointed to assist the bishop in his duties, and supported by the revenues of the bishopric. - Secular canons are those who, in progress of time, have left off the custom prevalent in monasteries of living a community life, and have the privilege of enjoying the returns of their respective benefices. In the church of England, by the act of 1840, all members of cathedrals except the dean are canons, and receive their appointments by letters patent from the crown. The obligations of the canons are contained under the three following heads: 1, the duty of residing in the place where the church they belong to is situated; 2, assisting at the canonical offices which are celebrated in the church; and 3, attending the meeting of the chapter at the appointed times. They cannot be absent from their benefices for a longer period than three months, and the minor canons, of whom there are from two to six in a cathedral, perform the choral service. In their collective capacity they are called a chapter, and form the council of the bishop. In each chapter there are dignitaries.

The name was originally applied to all the clergy, but was afterward confined to those who were connected with the cathedral church, or to specially privileged churches.

Canon #1

Canon, in music, a species of vocal composition in several parts, in the form of a perpetual fugue, in which the voices begin at intervals, one after the other, so that each voice sings the strain of the preceding one, and all sing different portions of the melody at the same time. It differs from the fugue in requiring that the subject be repeated by each part.

Canon #2

Canon, a Spanish word, signifying a tube, flue, or pipe, now in common use in the United States to designate deep ravines worn by running water. The most remarkable of these canons, which are very numerous in the interior of North America, is the great canon of the Colorado, whose walls rise perpendicularly in some places 7,000 ft. above the river. In the interior of New York, near the head waters of Seneca lake, there are several remarkable canons worn by small streams, of which the most noted is at Watkins, known as the Glen.