corpse

American  

[kawrps] / kɔrps /

noun

1. a dead body, usually of a human being.

   Synonyms:

   cadaver

2. something no longer useful or viable.

   rusting corpses of old cars.

3. Obsolete. a human or animal body, whether alive or dead.

---

corpse British  

/ kɔːps /

noun

1. a dead body, esp of a human being; cadaver

---

verb

1. slang theatre to laugh or cause to laugh involuntarily or inopportunely while on stage

Related Words

See body.

Etymology

Origin of corpse

First recorded in 1225–75; Middle English corps; originally spelling variant of cors ( corse ) but the p is now sounded

Explanation

Another name for a dead body is corpse. You might hear the word on TV crime shows, but a corpse doesn't have to be a crime victim, just any lifeless body. The words corpse and "corps" are often confused, and with good reason — both came from the Latin word corpus, meaning "body," and up until the 19th Century, both referred to a dead person. Around that time, the word with the "e" at the end was established as the word for a person's remains, while the other spelling was relegated to a "body" of people working together or in a military division, and very much alive!

Example Sentences

Pangy the corpse flower is back in bloom.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 16, 2026

No images have been released in public of his corpse and a state funeral that was supposed to have been held earlier this month has been postponed indefinitely.

From Barron's • Mar. 13, 2026

Héctor checked for vitals and then placed a paper blanket over the corpse.

From BBC • Feb. 25, 2026

And there’s this one, a pioneering one in California criminal law: a crime even without a corpse, the body of evidence — the corpus delicti.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 21, 2026

With his nails he managed to lift the corpse of the spider from the sink.

From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick

Related Words

• body
• cadaver
• carcass
• remains