Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Mass \Mass\, n. [OE. masse, messe, AS. m[ae]sse. LL. missa, from
   L. mittere, missum, to send, dismiss: cf. F. messe. In the
   ancient churches, the public services at which the
   catechumens were permitted to be present were called missa
   catechumenorum, ending with the reading of the Gospel. Then
   they were dismissed with these words : ``Ite, missa est''
   [sc. ecclesia], the congregation is dismissed. After that the
   sacrifice proper began. At its close the same words were said
   to those who remained. So the word gave the name of Mass to
   the sacrifice in the Catholic Church. See {Missile}, and cf.
   {Christmas}, {Lammas}, {Mess} a dish, {Missal}.]
   1. (R. C. Ch.) The sacrifice in the sacrament of the
      Eucharist, or the consecration and oblation of the host.

   2. (Mus.) The portions of the Mass usually set to music,
      considered as a musical composition; -- namely, the Kyrie,
      the Gloria, the Credo, the Sanctus, and the Agnus Dei,
      besides sometimes an Offertory and the Benedictus.

   {Canon of the Mass}. See {Canon}.

   {High Mass}, Mass with incense, music, the assistance of a
      deacon, subdeacon, etc.

   {Low Mass}, Mass which is said by the priest through-out,
      without music.

   {Mass bell}, the sanctus bell. See {Sanctus}.

   {Mass book}, the missal or Roman Catholic service book.

Canon \Can"on\, n. [OE. canon, canoun, AS. canon rule (cf. F.
   canon, LL. canon, and, for sense 7, F. chanoine, LL.
   canonicus), fr. L. canon a measuring line, rule, model, fr.
   Gr. ? rule, rod, fr. ?, ?, red. See {Cane}, and cf.
   {Canonical}.]
   1. A law or rule.

            Or that the Everlasting had not fixed His canon
            'gainst self-slaughter.               --Shak.

   2. (Eccl.) A law, or rule of doctrine or discipline, enacted
      by a council and confirmed by the pope or the sovereign; a
      decision, regulation, code, or constitution made by
      ecclesiastical authority.

            Various canons which were made in councils held in
            the second centry.                    --Hock.

   3. The collection of books received as genuine Holy
      Scriptures, called the {sacred canon}, or general rule of
      moral and religious duty, given by inspiration; the Bible;
      also, any one of the canonical Scriptures. See {Canonical
      books}, under {Canonical}, a.

   4. In monasteries, a book containing the rules of a religious
      order.

   5. A catalogue of saints acknowledged and canonized in the
      Roman Catholic Church.

   6. A member of a cathedral chapter; a person who possesses a
      prebend in a cathedral or collegiate church.

   7. (Mus.) A musical composition in which the voices begin one
      after another, at regular intervals, successively taking
      up the same subject. It either winds up with a coda
      (tailpiece), or, as each voice finishes, commences anew,
      thus forming a perpetual fugue or round. It is the
      strictest form of imitation. See {Imitation}.

   8. (Print.) The largest size of type having a specific name;
      -- so called from having been used for printing the canons
      of the church.

   9. The part of a bell by which it is suspended; -- called
      also {ear} and {shank}.

   Note: [See Illust. of {Bell}.] --Knight.

   10. (Billiards) See {Carom}.

   {Apostolical canons}. See under {Apostolical}.

   {Augustinian canons}, {Black canons}. See under
      {Augustinian}.

   {Canon capitular}, {Canon residentiary}, a resident member of
      a cathedral chapter (during a part or the whole of the
      year).

   {Canon law}. See under {Law}.

   {Canon of the Mass} (R. C. Ch.), that part of the mass,
      following the Sanctus, which never changes.

   {Honorary canon}, a canon who neither lived in a monastery,
      nor kept the canonical hours.

   {Minor canon} (Ch. of Eng.), one who has been admitted to a
      chapter, but has not yet received a prebend.

   {Regular canon} (R. C. Ch.), one who lived in a conventual
      community and follower the rule of St. Austin; a Black
      canon.

   {Secular canon} (R. C. Ch.), one who did not live in a
      monastery, but kept the hours.