Dictionary

precanon en · ADJ

Etymology

From pre- + canon.

Meanings

1. (not-comparable) Predating the development of a religious canon.
   • The gifts of apostle and prophet were evidently foundation gifts, particularly related to the precanon era of church history (see Ephesians 2:20 and Hebrews 2:4). 1980, John Williams, The Holy Spirit: Lord and Life-giver, page 92:
   • It is more like the precanon scriptures in the very early church: authoritative, but subject to additions as other texts were written. 2006, Matthew T. Dickerson, David O'Hara, From Homer to Harry Potter: A Handbook on Myth and Fantasy, page 105:
   • In one recent review, for instance, a charismatic scholar rather acidly mocks the position of those who want to make a distinction between the way God dispenses his gifts before the completion of the inspired writings and after their completion, accusing them of forcing a dichotomy between a “precanon God” and a “postcanon God.” 1995, D. A. Carson, Showing the Spirit: A Theological Exposition of 1 Corinthians 12-14, page 69:
2. (not-comparable, slang) Set before the main or accepted canonical chronology of a fictional universe.
   • “Well, supposedly RoGII: War in the Realms, as you know: But it’s precanon, right? More what I'd call a narrative possibility space bounded by the strategic parameters of the game.” 2013, Austin Grossman, You, page 139:
   • On the other hand, The Lord of the Rings Wiki classifies some works beyond their defined canon of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Ring, and The Silmarillion as "precanon" or "disputed canon." 2022, Kristine Larsen, “Nailing Jell-O to the Wall: Canonicity in Middle-earth”, in Journal of Tolkien Research, volume 15, number 1, page 4:
   • In Hunter's case, the stories varied between canon, pre-canon, and post-canon events. 2024, Jimena Benites-Aquino, Arnau Gifreu-Castells, Yasmin Sayan-Casquino, “The Representation of Autistic Characters in the Fanfictions of 'The Owl House'”, in Paulo Carlos López-López, Daniel Barreda Ibáñez, Mónica López Golán, Alberto Mejía Manrique, editors, Proceedings of the International Conference on Communication and Applied Technologies 2024 (ICOMTA 2024), page 204:

Forms

Antonyms

postcanonical · postcanon · postcanon

Synonyms

precanonical