corporeal

[ kawr-pawr-ee-uhl, -pohr- ]

adjective

1. of the nature of the physical body; bodily.

   Antonyms: spiritual

2. material; tangible:

   corporeal property.

   Antonyms: intangible

corporeal

/ kɔːˈpɔːrɪəl /

adjective

1. of the nature of the physical body; not spiritual
2. of a material nature; physical

Derived Forms

• corˈporeally, adverb
• corˌporeˈality, noun

Other Words From

• cor·pore·ali·ty cor·pore·al·ness noun
• cor·pore·al·ly adverb
• noncor·pore·al adjective
• noncor·pore·ali·ty noun
• transcor·pore·al adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of corporeal¹

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Latin corpore(us) “bodily” ( corpor- (stem of corpus “body”) + -eus adjective suffix) + -al ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of corporeal¹

C17: from Latin corporeus, from corpus body

Synonym Study

See physical.

Example Sentences

When Biles spoke about righting her emotional gyroscope as well as her corporeal gyroscope, it hit deep for so many of us.

From Time

She writes about the sick body, imprisoned bodies, bodies that protest, the sexual body, bodies that have experienced acts of violence — illuminating the strengths and the weaknesses of the corporeal form.

From Washington Post

It’s an explicitly corporeal moment, rendered in a few supple twists of wire.

From Washington Post

Fortunately, McKim’s film is heavy with the almost corporeal substance of its subject.

From Washington Blade

Without any objective gauge of your corporeal disrepair, it’s easy to deceive oneself.

From Time

To great effect, Cunningham plays with the correspondence between the corporeal and the emotional.

From The Daily Beast

Many of the scenes deal with the grim obsessions of old age: sexual futility, corporeal decrepitude, and death.

From The Daily Beast

Just corporeal enough to attest humanity, yet sufficiently transparent to let the celestial origin shine through.

From Project Gutenberg

The inner workings of their corporeal mechanism is no mystery for him.

From Project Gutenberg

He often saw the Holy Virgin in corporeal presence, and heard her speech and savoured the divine odours of her glorified body.

From Project Gutenberg

Those only who are freed from material bonds can be conscious of their extra-corporeal existence and immortality.

From Project Gutenberg

An angel in theory, the corporeal woman is soundly rated if dinner is late, or a room unswept.

From Project Gutenberg