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corps

Etymology and origin of the English word corps

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1704
Borrowed from
French corps
Ultimate origin
Latin (corpus)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kɔː(r)/ (UK); /kɔːr/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French corps (“body”), short for corps d'armée (“army corps”),[2][3] from Latin corpus (“body”),[4][2][5] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *kʷrep- (“body, form”).[2] It is a doublet of corpse, which was the earlier spelling of the same word.[4][6][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A part of an army organized under a commander: 1704, in French phrases picked up during Marlborough's campaigns;[2][6] the meaning of a military unit is first recorded in Addison's writing in The Spectator in 1711.[4][6] MWU has 1707.[5]

Semantic evolution

Barnhart notes much older uses of corps in English for a dead or living body and for a body of citizens (1429), which belong to the history of corpse.[4] A body of persons working together in any organization is from about 1730.[6] The corps diplomatique is from 1796 and the corps de ballet from 1826,[6] and a students' society in a German university is a corps from 1874.[6] The plural is spelled the same but pronounced with a final /z/.[7][8]

Timeline

  • 1704 – corps d'armée.[6][2]
  • 1711 – a military unit, in Addison.[4][6]
  • c. 1730 – any organized body of people.[6]
  • 1796 – corps diplomatique.[6]
  • 1826 – corps de ballet.[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A branch of the armed forces with a particular function: the medical corps.
  2. A military unit of two or more divisions.
  3. A group of people working together: the press corps.

Word family

  • corpsman
  • diplomatic corps
  • marine corps
  • press corps

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Corps.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/corps. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·