Etymologically
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corporatus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kɔr.pɔˈraː.tʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [kor.poˈraː.tus][1]

Forms

corporātus (feminine corporāta, neuter corporātum); first/second-declension adjective[1] As a noun: corporātus m (genitive corporātī); second declension.[1]

Etymology

It is the perfect passive participle from Latin corporō (“to make into a body, furnish with a body”), used as an adjective;[2][1] the noun was made from the participle.[1] The verb is formed from corpus (“body”).[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero's translation of the Timaeus says that the world has come into being, since it can be seen and touched and is “entirely corporatus”, that is, endowed with a body.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Besides the sense “endowed with a tangible body”, the participle meant “formed into a corporate society”, and its masculine was used as a noun for a member of such a society, a word of the inscriptions.[2][3] Inscriptions name an ordo corporatorum of boatmen (lenuncularii) and members of the guild of the utricularii.[2][6]

Christian writers used it of Christ made flesh: Lactantius speaks of Christ as corporatus and clothed in flesh.[3] The noun appears in the Code of Justinian.[5] Medieval Latin kept the sense “incarnate”, as in Verbum corporatum,[7] and medieval Polish Latin had both the adjective “bodily, having a body” and the noun “member of an organisation”.[8] In music theory it was said of notes joined in a ligature.[9] English took corporate from it in the early 15th century.[4]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the world, which has a tangible body.[2][5]
  • c. 250–317 AD – Lactantius calls Christ corporatus, clothed in flesh.[3][5]
  • 528–534 AD – The Code of Justinian has the noun corporatus, a member of a corporation.[5]
  • 14th century – Music treatises use it of notes bound in a ligature.[9]
  • early 15th century – English borrows it as corporate.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Endowed with a tangible body, corporeal.[2][10]
  2. Formed into a corporate society.[2]
  3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Incarnate, made flesh.[3][7]
  4. (Medieval Latin, music) Joined in a ligature.[9]

Noun

  1. A member of a corporation or guild.[2][3][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  7. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  8. ^ Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
  9. ^ a b c Lexicon musicum Latinum medii aevi (1992–), Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften; online ed. Wörterbuchnetz
  10. ^ Lewis, Charlton T. (1890), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: American Book Company