bodily

[bod-l-ee]

adjective

1. of or relating to the body.

2. corporeal or material, as contrasted with spiritual or mental.

adverb

1. as a physical entity; as a complete physical unit.

   The tornado picked him up bodily and threw him against the wall.

2. in person.

   You have to appear bodily at the box office in order to have your reservation confirmed.

bodily

/ ˈbɒdɪlɪ /

adjective

1. relating to or being a part of the human body

adverb

1. by taking hold of the body

   he threw him bodily from the platform

2. in person; in the flesh

Other Word Forms

• nonbodily adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of bodily¹

First recorded in 1250–1300, bodily is from the Middle English word bodylich. See body, -ly

Synonym Study

See physical.

Example Sentences

She wrote, “I was completely inhabiting my body. It was an entirely unfamiliar freedom, bodily freedom, rapture.”

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Sanchez is being charged with a level five felony of battery involving serious bodily injury and three misdemeanors — battery resulting in injury, unauthorized entry of a motor vehicle and public intoxication.

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Prosecutors will also seek a sentencing enhancement because Jackson allegedly caused Stuart Smith to suffer great bodily injury.

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The gap between bodily experience and how to capture it on the page results in writing swollen with desire — and its rare fulfillment.

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He also has a special vendetta against the bodily autonomy of women, especially pregnant women.

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Related Words

• physical