Chapter Canoe' to Cap of C by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Canoe' to Cap

Canoe' (2 syl.). A boat. (Spanish, canóa, a canoe; Dutch, cano; German, kahn, a boat; Old French, cane, a ship, and canot, a boat; Latin, canna, a hollow stem or reed; our cane, can = a jug; cannon, canal, etc.)

Canon The canons used to be those persons who resided in the buildings contiguous to the cathedral, employed either in the daily service, or in the education of the choristers. The word is Greek, and means a measuring rod, the beam of a balance; then, a roll or register containing the names of the clergy who are licensed to officiate in a cathedral church.
   Canon. A divine or ecclesiastical law.

“Or that the Everlasting had not flxed
His canon 'gainst self-slaughter.”
Shakespeare: Hamlet, i. 2.

Canon Law A collection of ecclesiastical laws which serve as the rule of church government. (See below.)

Canonical Canon is a Greek word, and means the index of a balance, hence a rule or law. (See above.)    The sacred canon means the accepted books of Holy Scripture, which contain the inspired laws of salvation and morality; also called The Canonical Books.

Canonical Dress The costume worn by the clergy according to the direction of the canon. Archdeacons, deans, and bishops wear canonical hats.

Canonical Epistles The seven catholic epistles, i.e. one of James, two of Peter, three of John, and one of Jude. The epistles of Paul were addressed to specific churches or to individuals.

“The second and third epistles of John are certainly not catholic. One is to a specific lady and her children; and the other is to Gaius. If the word “canonical” in this phrase means appointed to be read in church, then the epistles of Paul are canonical. In fact there are only five canonical epistles.

Canonical Hours The times within which the sacred offices may be performed. In the Roman Catholic Church they are seven- viz. matins, prime, tierce, sext, nones, vespers, and compline. Prime, tierce, sext, and nones are the first, third, sixth, and ninth hours of the day, counting from six in the morning. Compline is a corruption of completorium (that which completes the services of the day). The reason why there are seven canonical hours is that David says, “Seven times a day do I praise thee” (Psalm oxix. 164).
    In England the phrase means the time of the day within which persons can be legally married, i.e. from eight in the morning to three p m.

Canonical Obedience The obedience due by the inferior clergy to the superior clergy set over them. Even bishops owe canonical obedience to the archbishop of the same province.

Canonical Punishments are those punishments which the Church is authorised to inflict.

Canonicals    The pouch on the gown of an M.D., designed for carrying drugs.
   The coif of a serjeant-at- law, designed for concealing the tonsure.
   The lamb-skin on a B A hood, in imitation of the toga candida of the Romans.
   The strings of an Oxford undergraduate, to show the wearer is still in leading strings. At Cambridge, however, the strings are the mark of a graduate who has won his ribbons.
   The tippet on a barrister's gown, meant for a wallet to carry briefs in.
   The proctors' and pro-proctors' tippet, for papers- a sort of sabretache.

Canopic Vases Used by the Egyptian priests for the viscera of bodies embalmed, four vases being provided for each body. So called from Canopus, in Egypt, where they were first used.

Canopus The Egyptian god of water. The Chaldeans worshipped fire, and sent all the other gods a challenge, which was accepted by a priest of Canopus. The Chaldeans lighted a vast fire round the god Canopus, when the Egyptian deity spouted out torrents of water and quenched the fire, thereby obtaining the triumph of water over fire.

Canopy properly means a gnat curtain. Herodotus tells us (ii. 95) that the fishermen of the Nile used to lift their nets on a pole, and form thereby a rude sort of tent under which they slept securely, as gnats