late 13c., "a dead body;" c. 1300, "a living body;" c. 1400, "the main part of anything," from Old French cors, from Latin corpus "body" (from PIE root *kwrep- "body, form, appearance"). Archaic from 16c.; compare corpse.

1610s, "of a material or physical nature, not mental or spiritual," with adjectival suffix -al (1) + Latin corporeus "of the nature of a body," from corpus "body" (living or dead), from PIE *kwrpes, from root *kwrep- "body, form, appearance." Meaning "relating to a material body or physical thing" is from 1660s. Related: Corporeality, corporeally.

"having the character of a corporation," 1833, from Late Latin corporativus "pertaining to the forming of a body," from corporat-, past-participle stem of corporare "form into a body," from corpus (genitive corporis) "body" (from PIE root *kwrep- "body, form, appearance"). In 1920s and '30s often with reference to fascist systems of government.

"pertaining to the measurements of the human body," 1871, based on French anthropométrique, from anthropometry "measurement of the human body" + -ic.

"body of constituents," especially "a body of persons voting for an elective officer," 1806, from constituent + abstract noun suffix -cy.

early 15c., "united in one body, constituted as a legal corporation," as a number of individuals empowered to do business as an individual, in early use often of municipalities, from Latin corporatus, past participle of corporare "make or fashion into a body, furnish with a body," also "to make into a corpse, kill," from corpus (genitive corporis) "body" (from PIE root *kwrep- "body, form, appearance"). The past participle, corporatus, also was used as a noun meaning "member of a corporation."

In reference to any body of persons united in a community from c. 1600. Related: Corporately; corporateness.

late 13c., cors "body," from Old French cors "body; person; corpse; life" (9c.), from Latin corpus "body" (from PIE root *kwrep- "body, form, appearance"). The order of appearance of senses in English is "dead body" (13c.), "live body" (14c.); it also meant "body of citizens" (15c.), "band of knights" (mid-15c.), paralleling the sense evolution in French that yielded the doublet corps.

French restored the Latin -p- in 14c., and English followed 15c., but the pronunciation remained "corse" at first (and perhaps remains so with some speakers) and corse persisted as a parallel spelling. After the -p- began to be sounded (16c. in English), corse became archaic or poetic only. The terminal -e was rare before 19c.

Corpse-candle "candle used at ceremonial watchings of a corpse before burial," is attested from 1690s.

c. 1300, "pertaining to the body;" also opposed to "spiritual;" from body + -ly (1). As an adverb (with -ly (2)) from late 14c.

in reference to sensations that can occur anywhere on the body, by 1945, from somato- "body" + sensory. An earlier word in a similar sense was somaesthetic (1897).

"divested of a body, free from flesh," of a soul or spirit, "separated from a body," 1742, past-participle adjective from disembody.