incorporate

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɪnˈkoɹ.pəˌɹeɪt/, /ɪŋˈkoɹ.pɹeɪt/; /ɪŋˈkɔː.pə.ɹeɪt/, /ɪŋˈkɔː.pə.ɹət/ (UK)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English incorporaten, borrowed from Late Latin incorporātus, the past participle of incorporō (“to unite into one body, embody”),^[2][3][4] from in- (“into”) and corpus (“body”) (stem corpor-; see corpse and corporal).^[2][3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To combine into one body, include: before 1398, in Trevisa's translation of Bartholomew's De Proprietatibus Rerum, in Barnhart;^[2] the late 14th century in Etymonline, where it also meant to absorb or eat, often in medical writing.^[3]

Semantic evolution

To establish as a legal corporation is first recorded in the Rolls of Parliament in 1461 (the mid-15th century).^[2][3] The participial adjective, formally constituted as a corporation, is from 1480.^[6] To admit someone as a member of a body is from the 16th century.^[7] A separate adjective incorporate, without bodily substance, is from 1540, now obsolete.^[6][4]

Timeline

• before 1398 – to combine into one body.^[2]
• 1461 – to form a legal corporation.^[2]
• 1480 – incorporate, incorporated (adjective).^[6]
• 1540 – incorporate, incorporeal (obsolete).^[6]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To include something as part of a whole.
2. To combine or merge into a single body.
3. To form a business into a legal corporation.
4. To admit as a member of a corporation or society.

Adjective

1. Combined into one; incorporated.

Word family

• incorporable
• incorporation
• incorporative
• incorporator
• disincorporate
• preincorporate
• reincorporate
• incorporated

Related words

• corporation
• corporate
• corpse
• corps
• corpus

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press