- canonize
- late 14c., "to place in the canon or calendar of saints," from O.Fr. cannonisier and directly from M.L. canonizare, from L.L. canon "church rule" (see canon (1)). Related: Canonized; cannonizing.
- canon (2)
- "clergyman," c.1200, from Anglo-Fr. canun, from O.N.Fr. canonie (Fr. chanoine), from L.L. canonicus "clergyman living under a rule," from L. canonicus (adj.) "according to rule" (in ecclesiastical use, "pertaining to the canon"), from Gk. kanonikos, from kanon (see canon (1)).
- canon (1)
- "church law," O.E., from L.L. canon, in classical L., "measuring line, rule," from Gk. kanon "any straight rod or bar; rule; standard of excellence," perhaps from kanna "reed" (see cane). Taken in ecclesiastical sense for "decree of the Church," and as such passed through L.L. to O.E. General sense of "standard of judging" is from c.1600.
- canonical
- early 15c., from M.L. canonicalis, from L.L. canonicus (see canon (2)). Earlier was canonial (early 13c.).
- canyon
- 1834, from Mex.Sp. cañon, extended sense of Sp. cañon "a pipe, tube, gorge," from cano "a tube," from L. canna "reed" (see cane). But earlier spelling callon (1560s) might suggest a source in calle "street."
- cannon
- c.1400, "tube for projectiles," from O.Fr. canon (14c.), from It. cannone "large tube," augmentive of L. canna "reed, tube" (see cane). Cannon fodder (1891) translates Ger. kanonenfutter (cf. Shakespeare's food for powder in "I Hen. IV"). Spelling not differentiated from canon till c.1800. Cannon ball is from 1660s.
- kir
- "white wine and crème de cassis," 1966 (popular in U.S. 1980s), from Canon Felix Kir (1876-1968), mayor of Dijon, who is said to have invented the recipe.
- Copernicus
- Latinized form of name of Mikolaj Koppernigk (1473-1543), physician and canon of the cathedral of Frauenburg. His great work was "De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium."
- memento
- c.1400, "Psalm cxxxi in the Canon of the Mass" (which begins with the L. word Memento and in which the dead are commemorated), from L. memento "remember," imperative of meminisse "to remember," a reduplicated form, related to mens "mind." Meaning "reminder, warning" is from 1580s; sense of "keepsake" is first recorded 1768.
- in-law
- 1894, "anyone of a relationship not natural," abstracted from father-in-law, etc.
"The position of the 'in-laws' (a happy phrase which is attributed ... to her Majesty, than whom no one can be better acquainted with the article) is often not very apt to promote happiness." ["Blackwood's Magazine," 1894]
The earliest recorded use of the phrase is in brother-in-law (13c.); the law is Canon Law, which defines degrees of relationship within which marriage is prohibited. - leonine
- late 14c., from L. leoninus "belonging to or resembling a lion," from leo (gen. leonis) "lion." Weekley thinks that Leonine verse (1650s), rhymed in the middle as well as the end of the line, probably is from the name of some medieval poet, perhaps Leo, Canon of St. Victor, Paris, 12c.
- Pali
- 1690s, Middle High Indian dialect used in sacred Buddhist writings (the lingua franca of northern India from c. 6c. B.C.E.-2c. B.C.E.), from Skt. Pali, from pali bhasa "language of the canonical books," from pali "line, role, canon" + bhasa "language."
- duodenum
- late 14c., from M.L. duodenum digitorium "space of twelve digits," from L. duodeni "twelve each." Coined by Gerard of Cremona (d.1187), who translated "Canon Avicennae," a loan-transl. of Gk. dodekadaktylon, lit. "twelve fingers long," the intestine part so called by Gk. physician Herophilus (c.353-280 B.C.E.) for its length, about equal to the breadth of twelve fingers.
- extravagant
- late 14c., from M.L. extravagantem, originally a word in Canon Law for uncodified papal decrees, prp. of extravagari "wander outside or beyond," from L. extra "outside of" (see extra-) + vagari "wander, roam" (see vague). Extended sense of "excessive, extreme" first recorded 1590s; that of "wasteful, lavish" 1711. Related: Extravagantly.