corporal

¹

[kawr-per-uhl, -pruhl]

adjective

1. of the human body; bodily; physical.

   corporal suffering.

   Synonyms: material

2. Zoology.,  of the body proper, as distinguished from the head and limbs.

3. personal.

   corporal possession.

4. Obsolete.,  corporeal; belonging to the material world.

corporal

²

[kawr-per-uhl, -pruhl]

noun

Military.

1. 1. a noncommissioned officer ranking above a private first class in the U.S. Army or lance corporal in the Marines and below a sergeant.

   2. a similar rank in the armed services of other countries.

2. Corporal, a U.S. surface-to-surface, single-stage ballistic missile.

corporal

³

[kawr-per-uhl, -pruhl]

noun

Ecclesiastical.

1. a fine cloth, usually of linen, on which the consecrated elements in the Eucharist are placed or with which they are covered.

corporal

¹

/ -prəl, ˈkɔːpərəl /

adjective

1. of or relating to the body; bodily

2. an obsolete word for corporeal

corporal

²

/ ˈkɔːpərəl, -prəl /

noun

1. a noncommissioned officer junior to a sergeant in the army, air force, or marines

2. (in the Royal Navy) a petty officer who assists the master-at-arms

corporal

³

/ -prəl, ˌkɔːpəˈreɪlɪ, ˈkɔːpərəl /

noun

1. a white linen cloth on which the bread and wine are placed during the Eucharist

Other Word Forms

• corporality noun
• corporally adverb
• corporalcy noun
• corporalship noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of corporal¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English corporal, corporel, from Old French corporal and Latin corporālem, from corporālis “bodily, physical,” equivalent to corpor- (stem of corpus “body” (alive or dead) + -ālis adjective ending; -al ¹

Origin of corporal²

First recorded in 1570–80; from Middle French corporal, variant of cap(p)oral (influenced by adjective corporal “bodily”), from Italian caporale, apparently a contraction of the phrase capo corporale “corporal head, bodily head” that is, head of a body (of soldiers); See caput, corporal ¹

Origin of corporal³

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English corporal(le), from Medieval Latin corporālis (palla), corporāle (pallium) “eucharistic (altar cloth)”; replacing earlier corporas, corporaus, from Old French corporaus, corporals, from Latin corporālis (palla), as above; pall ¹ ( def. ), pallium

Word History and Origins

Origin of corporal¹

C14: from Latin corporālis of the body, from corpus body

Origin of corporal²

C16: from Old French, via Italian, from Latin caput head; perhaps also influenced in Old French by corps body (of men)

Origin of corporal³

C14: from Medieval Latin corporāle pallium eucharistic altar cloth, from Latin corporālis belonging to the body, from corpus body (of Christ)

Synonym Study

See physical.

Example Sentences

A 96-year-old former RAF corporal who left school when he was 14 has become the oldest contestant in Countdown history.

From BBC

That same year, he pleaded guilty to corporal injury upon a spouse and was sentenced to three years of probation with 234 days in jail.

From Los Angeles Times

In later years, Buhari attributed his disciplinarian bent to spending his formative years at boarding school, where corporal punishment was the norm, and in the military.

From BBC

Mr Lemon served in the army throughout World War Two, having joined in 1939 and left as a corporal in 1946.

From BBC

Some call for a return to the days of corporal punishment in schools, when unruly children were disciplined by "the tawse".

From BBC

When To Use

What does corporal mean?

Corporal means physical, or relating to the physical body.Sometimes, corporal is about the body specifically- like corporal suffering, or bodily pain. Other times, corporal simply refers to something you are able to touch, like a corporal, or tangible, possession.While it is frowned upon now, many schools in the United States used to use hitting, spanking, or other forms of corporal punishment to discipline students.