corps
nounnounnounnouncommon in dialogue
A battlefield formation composed of two or more divisions.
noun
- 1
A battlefield formation composed of two or more divisions.
- 2
An organized group of people united by a common purpose.
diplomatic corps
White House press corps
Etymology
From French corps d'armée (literally “army body”), from Latin corpus (“body”). Doublet of corpse and corpus. See also English riff.
noun
- 1
A corps de ballet.
The performers were all creditable dancers as well as comedians […] even the largest of them cavorted about en pointe with wonderful ease, and the corps work was extremely precise in its inaccuracies.
noun
- 1
Also a form of corpplural of corp
Etymology
Clipping.
noun
- 1
Variant of corpseobsoleteObsolete spelling of corpse.
How to keep the corps ſeven dayes from corruption by anointing and waſhing, without exenteration, were an hazardable peece of art, in our choiſeſt practiſe.
To mee, who with eternal Famin pine, / Alike is Hell, or Paradiſe, or Heaven, / There beſt, where moſt with ravin I may meet; / Which here, though plenteous, all too little ſeems / To ſtuff this Maw, this vaſt unhide-bound Corps.
Did I poſſeſs the power of reſuſcitation, I would reanimate thy lifeleſs corps, and cheriſh thee in the warmeſt corner of thy favourite dwelling-place.
The women looked like dead bodies; and never did I see such a sepulchral appearance as their dress and colourless faces exhibited, they were all dressed alike in drab gowns, white neck kerchiefs, and a cap fitting close over their ears, and fastened under the chin, the same sort as are placed on a corps.
Forms
- plural
- corpses
corps · A battlefield formation composed of two or more divisions.
corpse · A dead body, especially that of a human as opposed to an…corpus · A collection of written or spoken texts.Corpus · Corpus Christi (city in Texas)