canonicity
Status as authoritative
Canonicity is the quality of being canonical—belonging to an accepted body of authoritative works.
In religious contexts, it refers to whether a text belongs in scripture: debates over the canonicity of certain books of the Bible.
In fiction, canonicity determines what "really happened" in a story's official universe versus fan fiction or disputed sequels: Fans argued about the canonicity of the new film.
Works of doubtful authenticity
- pseudepigraphaFalsely attributed literary works
- deuterocanonicalOf secondary biblical authority
- biblicalOf sacred texts
- testamentWritten proof or legacy
gospel · epistle · prophetic · revelation · inspired · inerrant · sacred · holy
Lawful or rightful status
- authenticityQuality of being genuine
- validityQuality of being sound
- credibilityQuality inspiring trust
- officialAuthority-sanctioned person or status
recognized · established · sanctioned · endorsed · accredited · ratified · certified · approved
Unchallengeable official beliefs
- orthodoxyAdherence to accepted beliefs
- heresyBelief opposing official doctrine
- creedStatement of belief
- theologyStudy of the divine
apostasy · schism · infallibility · ecumenism · eschatology · ecclesiology · transubstantiation · monotheism
Standard for judgment
- benchmarkStandard for comparison
- normAccepted behavioral standard
- measureUnit of quantity
- yardstickThirty-six-inch ruler
touchstone · exemplar · archetype · prototype · paradigm · model · template · reference
Collected literary works volume
- classicOf lasting excellence
- masterworkSupreme creative achievement
- curriculumEducational program's content plan
- syllabusCourse plan document
textual · manuscript · authorship · attribution · apocryphal · pseudonymous · redaction · recension
apocrypha
Works of doubtful authenticity
- pseudepigraphaFalsely attributed literary works
- deuterocanonicalOf secondary biblical authority
- biblicalOf sacred texts
testament · gospel · epistle · prophetic · revelation · inspired · inerrant · sacred · holy · divine
legitimacy
Lawful or rightful status
- authenticityQuality of being genuine
- validityQuality of being sound
- credibilityQuality inspiring trust
official · recognized · established · sanctioned · endorsed · accredited · ratified · certified · approved · accepted
dogma
Unchallengeable official beliefs
- orthodoxyAdherence to accepted beliefs
- heresyBelief opposing official doctrine
- creedStatement of belief
theology · apostasy · schism · infallibility · ecumenism · eschatology · ecclesiology · transubstantiation · monotheism · polytheism
criterion
Standard for judgment
yardstick · touchstone · exemplar · archetype · prototype · paradigm · model · template · reference · baseline
anthology
Collected literary works volume
- classicOf lasting excellence
- masterworkSupreme creative achievement
- curriculumEducational program's content plan
syllabus · textual · manuscript · authorship · attribution · apocryphal · pseudonymous · redaction · recension · philology
- scriptureBible, New Testament, Old Testament, verses, passages
- ancient textsscrolls, scroll, Euclid's Elements, Epic of Gilgamesh, codex
- German StudiesMiddle High German, medieval literature, Holocaust literature, Bildungsroman, Faust
- textual criticismcritical apparatus, collation, emendation, recension, variant
canonicityspuriousness
Quality of being false
inauthenticity · falseness · forgery · fabrication · dubiousness
canonicityheterodoxy
Unorthodox belief or opinion
unorthodoxy · heresy · deviance · nonconformity · irregularity
canon, canonical, canonize, canonization, canonized, canonizing, canonizes, noncanonical