William Nack
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What is the difference between cannon and canon?
Cannon and canon are occasionally confused by writers, but the two words have independent origins, and do not share a meaning. Cannon is most frequently found used in the sense of "a large gun," and can be traced to the Old Italian word cannone, which means "large tube." Canon, however, comes from the Greek word kanōn, meaning "rule." Although canon has a variety of meanings, it is most often found in the senses of "a rule or law of a church," "an accepted rule," or "a sanctioned or accepted group or body of related works." A loose cannon is "a dangerously uncontrollable person or thing." There are no loose canons.
Examples of cannon in a Sentence
New Atlas, 12 Oct. 2024
The cannon was marked with a relief of a sailing ship, the name of the Dutch East India Company, and a date, 1604.
—Sam Knight, The New Yorker, 4 Nov. 2024
Rory Smith, New York Times, 14 Mar. 2023
The cost per shot is cheap, as the ammunition is technically just electricity generated on the spot and not a missile or even cannon round built in a factory and shipped to the battlefield.
—Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 19 Mar. 2020
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Dictionary Entries Near cannon
Cite this Entry
“Cannon.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cannon. Accessed 27 Nov. 2024.
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cannon
noun
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