corporation

American  

[kawr-puh-rey-shuhn] / ˌkɔr pəˈreɪ ʃən /

noun

corporations plural

1. an association of individuals, created by law or under authority of law, having a continuous existence independent of the existences of its members, and powers and liabilities distinct from those of its members.

2. Corporation, the group of principal officials of a borough or other municipal division in England.

3. any group of persons united or regarded as united in one body.

4. Informal. a paunch; potbelly.

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corporation British  

/ ˌkɔːpəˈreɪʃən /

noun

1. a group of people authorized by law to act as a legal personality and having its own powers, duties, and liabilities

2. Also called: municipal corporation.  the municipal authorities of a city or town

3. a group of people acting as one body

4. See public corporation

5. informal a large paunch or belly

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corporation Cultural  

1. A business organization owned by a group of stockholders, each of whom enjoys limited liability (that is, each can be held responsible for losses only up to the limit of his or her investment). A corporation has the ability to raise capital by selling stock to the public.

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Grammar

See collective noun.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• multicorporation
  noun
• noncorporation
  noun
• subcorporation
  noun
• supercorporation
  noun
• corporational
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• corporations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of corporation

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Late Latin corporātiōn- (stem of corporātiō ) “guild,” Latin: “physical makeup, build”; see corporate, -ion

Explanation

Most of us think of corporations as companies — Amazon is one, Kellogg another, Disney a third. In reality, a corporation has a very particular legal meaning: it's a company that registers with a state government such that it has the same rights and responsibilities as a person. Know the word corpse? It means a dead body, and comes from the Latin corpus, "body." One way to remember corporation is that it turns a company into a body — a body that is considered a person in many respects in the eyes of the law. Corporations must pay taxes and follow laws. Because it is a separate entity, when a corporation fails, its employees and managers are not responsible for its debts.

Example Sentences

During a quarterly earnings call in May, George Zoley, CEO of GEO Group, another major private prison corporation, said the company had been in discussions with ICE “regarding the potential sale of multiple facilities.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 7, 2026

The number of social-media groups and threads predicated on the opinion that Bowlero/Lucky Strike absolutely sucks testifies to the number of both serious bowlers and casual enthusiasts who see the corporation as an invasive rot.

From Salon • Jul. 3, 2026

For the average consumer, fighting back against a big corporation can seem like an impossible uphill battle.

From BBC • Jul. 2, 2026

McKinsey has resisted becoming a corporation, opting to maintain the relatively flat partnership structure that it has had for much of its 100-year history, Sternfels said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 1, 2026

“Certainly not, Mr. Marsden. The corporation cannot countenance moral turpitude.”

From "Lyddie" by Katherine Paterson

Related Words

• business
• company
• enterprise