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Canon (canon law)
Form of church law / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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In canon law, a canon designates some law promulgated by a synod, an ecumenical council, or an individual bishop.[2]
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The word "canon" comes from the Greek kanon, which in its original usage denoted a straight rod that was later the instrument used by architects and artificers as a measuring stick for making straight lines. Kanon eventually came to mean a rule or norm, so that when the first ecumenical council—Nicaea I—was held in 325, kanon started to obtain the restricted juridical denotation of a law promulgated by a synod or ecumenical council, as well as that of an individual bishop.[2]