Dictionary

fanonical en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /fəˈnɑ.nɪ.kəl/ (Canada, General-American)
• [fəˈnɑ.nɪ.kɫ̩] (Canada, General-American)
• [fəˈnɔn.ɪ.kɫ̩] (Australia)
• [fəˈnɔ̟n.ə.kɫ̩] (New-Zealand)
• /fəˈnɒn.ɪ.kəl/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• [fəˈnɒn.ɪ.kɫ̩] (Received-Pronunciation)
• /fəˈnɒn.ə.kəl/ (New-Zealand)
• /fəˈnɔn.ɪ.kəl/ (Australia)

Etymology

From fanon + -ical.

Meanings

1. (slang) Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of fanon.
   • Here canon and fanon freely mesh: on the one hand, we have canonical elements such as "green, slanted eyes" and "thin body," and on the other, we have fanonical elements built on canonical ones, such as "fine-boned, cat-like," "beautiful, fey, little ... child." 2014, Mafalda Stasi, “The Toy Soldiers from Leeds: The Slash Palimpsest”, in Karen Hellekson, Kristina Busse, editors, Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet New Essays, page 124:
   • Thus while the Ron/Hermione ship is canonical, because Rowling included a relationship between the characters in her books, the Minerva/Hermione ship is fanonical, because a romantic or sexualized relationship between those characters exists only in the minds of fans. 2015, Amanda K. Allen, “Social Networking, Participatory Culture and the Fandom World of Harry Potter”, in Gail Ashton, editor, Medieval Afterlives in Contemporary Culture, page 280:
   • Because I disagreed with the decision to eliminate imagined relationships from the site, I created a page titled "Pairings (fanon)" on March 27, 2009, to restore the "cruft" (excessive, detailed material) that had been edited out, albeit within its own fanonical space as dictated by Lostpedia policy. 2015, Jason Mittell, Complex TV: The Poetics of Contemporary Television Storytelling, page 279:

Forms