CS Knowledge Base

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔːp(ə)ɹəl/
• (US) enPR: kôr'-pər-əl, kôr'-prəl, IPA^(key): /ˈkoɹ.pɚ.əl/, /ˈkoɹ.pɹəl/

• Audio (Canada):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)pɹəl, -ɔː(ɹ)pəɹəl

From Middle English corporal, corporall, corporel, corporell, from Old French corporal (French corporel), from Latin corporālis, from Latin corpus (“body”); compare corporeal.

corporal (not comparable)

1. (archaic) Having a physical, tangible body; material, corporeal.
   • c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:

     Into the air; and what seem'd corporal melted as breath into the wind.

2. Of or pertaining to the body, especially the human body; bodily.

   corporal punishment

   corporal suffering

3. (zoology) Pertaining to the body (the thorax and abdomen), as distinguished from the head, limbs and wings, etc.
   • 1998, Rüdiger Riehl, Aquarium Atlas, volume 3, page 572:

     The smaller 9 9 have less elongated fins, drabber corporal colors, and more transparent fins.

• bodily
• corporeal

From French caporal, probably influenced by corporal (above), from the Italian caporale, from capo (“head, leader”) from Latin caput (“head”).

corporal (plural corporals)

1. (military) A non-commissioned officer army rank with NATO code OR-4. The rank below a sergeant but above a lance corporal and private.
2. A non-commissioned officer rank in the police force, below a sergeant but above a private or patrolman.
3. (mining, historical) A worker in charge of the wagonway, reporting to the deputy.
4. A dragonfly of the genus Ladona.

• bombardier

From Middle English corporall, corporalle, from the Latin corporāle, the neuter of corporālis representing the doctrine of transubstantiation in which the Eucharist becomes the body of Christ.

corporal (plural corporals)

2. (ecclesiastical) The white linen cloth on which the elements of the Eucharist are placed; a communion cloth.
   • 1891, Oscar Wilde, chapter XI, in The Picture of Dorian Gray, London; New York, N.Y.: Ward Lock & Co., →OCLC:

     He had […] many corporals, chalice-veils, and sudaria

• corporas (obsolete)

• corporal oath

From Latin corporālis.

corporal (epicene, plural corporales)

1. corporal, bodily

Borrowed from Latin corporālis.

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Central) [kur.puˈɾal]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Northwestern) [kor.poˈɾal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [koɾ.poˈɾal]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

corporal m or f (masculine and feminine plural corporals)

1. corporal

   Synonym: corpori

• cos

corporal m (plural corporals)

1. corporal (linen cloth)

• “corporal”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

corporal m (plural corporaux)

1. (religion) corporal

• “corporal”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

From Latin corporālis.

corporal m or f (plural corporais)

1. corporal, bodily

   Synonym: corpóreo

• corpo

corporal m (plural corporais)

1. corporal (linen cloth)

• “corporal”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

corporal m (oblique and nominative feminine singular corporale)

1. alternative form of corporel

Borrowed from Latin corporālis.

corporal m or f (plural corporais)

1. corporal, carnal

   Synonym: corpóreo

   • 2004, Walter Altmann, Nossa fé e suas razões, Editora Sinodal, →ISBN, page 164:

     As pessoas que defendem o reencarnacionismo (em nosso meio, conhecido sobretudo pelo espiritismo) resumem seus argumentos nos seguintes pontos: a) Existem várias existências terrestres; nossa vida corporal não é a primeira e, provavelmente, não será a última. Após morrermos, voltaremos noutra existência.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

• corporalmente

• corpo

corporal m (plural corporais)

1. corporal

• “corporal”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “corporal”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Borrowed from French corporel, from Latin corporalis.

corporal m or n (feminine singular corporală, masculine plural corporali, feminine/neuter plural corporale)

1. corporal

• corporalitate

From Latin corporālis.

• IPA^(key): /koɾpoˈɾal/ [koɾ.poˈɾal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: cor‧po‧ral

corporal m or f (masculine and feminine plural corporales)

1. (relational) body; corporal

   Synonym: corpóreo

2. bodywide or systemic

   Synonym: corpóreo

corporal m (plural corporales)

1. corporal (linen cloth)

• “corporal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025