canonical URL
compound.compound. the main web address for a page that has several different links. You use it to tell search engines which version of a page is the original one.
compound. the preferred version of a web page address among several duplicates or near-duplicates. It serves as a technical signal to search engines to consolidate ranking signals and avoid penalties for duplicate content.
You should always set a canonical URL for your blog posts.
The developer added a canonical URL to the product page to ensure that tracking parameters didn't create duplicate content issues in search results.
By implementing a canonical URL, the webmaster successfully directed all link equity to the primary landing page, preventing the search engine from indexing multiple variations of the same promotional content.
Formed from canonical, derived from the Late Latin canonicus meaning according to rule, and the initialism URL, standing for Uniform Resource Locator.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Often used in the context of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and web development.
Last updated July 22, 2026