adj
noun
Freq #4712
Meanings
-
1
noun
A low-ranking officer in the army, above a private and below a sergeant.
The corporal led the small group of soldiers on patrol.
-
2
adj
Relating to the human body.
Corporal punishment is no longer allowed in most schools.
Thesaurus
Synonyms
Word family
Forms
corporals
Derived forms
bicorporalcorporalitycorporallycorporalnesscorporalshipextracorporalincorporalintracorporalnoncorporalsaddler-corporaltricorporaluncorporal
Etymology
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.
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