canonical
adj.accepted as the standard or most correct version of something. You use this word when there is one main way to do or say something, and other ways are considered less accurate.
adj.conforming to an established standard, rule, or authority; regarded as the most authentic or authoritative form. Often used in academic, religious, or technical contexts to distinguish the accepted version from variants.
“This is the canonical version of the story.”
“The editor chose the canonical text for the new school textbook.”
“Scholars debate which manuscript represents the canonical form of the ancient poem, as several early copies contain significant variations.”
Typically used attributively before a noun (e.g., 'canonical text').
“For work, I read canonical 19th-century realist novels; for pleasure, I read contemporary literary fiction.”
From Middle English canonycal, from Medieval Latin canōnicālis. By surface analysis, canon + -ical.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.