What does canonised mean?
Canonised is the past tense and past participle of the verb canonise, meaning to declare someone officially a saint. In its primary religious sense, a person who has been canonised has undergone the formal process by which the Roman Catholic Church confirms that they lived a life of heroic virtue and is in heaven, making them worthy of public veneration — as when Mother Teresa was canonised by Pope Francis in 2016. The word also carries an important figurative sense: books, authors, artists, or ideas can be described as canonised when they have been accepted into an authoritative body of works or standards, such as the canon of great literature. This secondary usage gives the word a scholarly flavour, appearing frequently in literary criticism and cultural commentary. Canonised carries connotations of elevation, permanence, and official approval, whether bestowed by a pope, a tradition, or an academy. It should not be confused with cannon-related terms despite the shared spelling of its root; the underlying Latin canonicus relates to rule and measure, not artillery. The British spelling ends in -ise, while American usage prefers -ize.
verb (past tense and past participle of canonise)Having been formally declared a saint by a church authority, especially the Roman Catholic Church; more broadly, having been established or elevated to an authoritative, classic, or officially approved status.
- Formally declared a saint by church authority, particularly through the Roman Catholic canonisation process.
- (Of a book, author, work, or figure) elevated to authoritative or classic status within a cultural, literary, or academic tradition.
"Mother Teresa was canonised by Pope Francis in 2016."
"Pope John Paul II was canonised in 2014, barely nine years after his death."
"By the mid-twentieth century Dickens had been thoroughly canonised in the English literary curriculum."
The word 'canon' originally meant a measuring rod — so when someone is canonised, they are literally being measured against the standard of sainthood.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of canonised
Canonised derives from the verb canonise, which entered English in the late 16th century from Medieval Latin canonizare, itself rooted in Latin cano ('rule' or 'measuring rod') and Greek kanōn. The ecclesiastical sense arose because saints were admitted according to the church's canonical list or rule of recognised holy figures. Cognates sharing this root include canonical, canon, and, via a later borrowed sense, cannon.
Related word forms
How canonised is actually used
Primarily formal and ecclesiastical in register; the figurative literary sense is common in academic criticism. In British English it is spelled 'canonised', while American English uses 'canonized'.
Easily confused with canonised
Canonised is the British spelling of the same word, while canonized is the American spelling with a z.
Cannonade means continuous heavy gunfire from cannons, whereas canonised refers to being declared a saint or given official status.