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

See Examples For:

corporation corporations

The subscription channel outbid the corporation, which had been the main partner and provided free-to-air coverage since 1954 for 18 games in-a-row.

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026

The for-profit arm is now a Delaware public-benefit corporation, a for-profit company whose directors can balance profit, stakeholder interests, and a specified public mission—as they see fit.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026

In Consumers’ Research, the justices upheld the Federal Communications Commission’s delegation of some authority to the Universal Service Administrative Co., a private not-for-profit corporation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

The Los Angeles-based corporation is also seeking to build a new pipeline along a railroad right-of-way to transport water to the south.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026

Ethyl was a powerful global corporation with many friends in high places.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

Neither Smith nor the BEA Committee wrote in the time of multitrillion-dollar corporations with sprawling networks of overseas subsidiaries and suppliers, when more than half of trade is intercorporate, not just international.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

Last year, BofA analysts, citing KMPG, said that around 30% of U.S. vet clinics were owned by private-equity firms, and another 20% were owned by corporations.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026

With some religious institutions managing vast sums of money and operating on a scale comparable to major corporations, ensuring transparency is a persistent challenge.

From Barron's ● Jul. 19, 2026

The simple reason why the facts aren’t known is that the American public doesn’t care enough to tune in, or at least those who run the media corporations don’t think the American public cares.

From Salon ● Jul. 10, 2026

In the United States they include major corporations famous for their homey domestic manufactures.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

Related Words

• business
• company
• enterprise