corpse
Americannoun
-
a dead body, usually of a human being.
- Synonyms:
- cadaver
-
something no longer useful or viable.
rusting corpses of old cars.
-
Obsolete. a human or animal body, whether alive or dead.
noun
verb
Related Words
See body.
Etymology
Origin of corpse
First recorded in 1225–75; Middle English corps; originally spelling variant of cors ( see 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!
Vocabulary lists containing corpse
Body Language: Corp ("Body")
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The Westing Game
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Beowulf vocabulary
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
What accomplishments are you most proud of with Cannibal Corpse?
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 3, 2025
His other theatre roles include An Englishman Abroad, where he played Guy Burgess in a 2003 production in York and Major Powell in the play Corpse, which he performed in Hornchurch in 2007.
From BBC • Feb. 23, 2024
Corpse No. 1: America’s Main Streets, killed off 50 or 60 years ago by shopping malls.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 20, 2024
Her previous books - The Unclean, The Reluctant Dead and Dead Corpse - reveal Onoh's profound interest in the relationship between the living and the dead.
From BBC • Sep. 11, 2023
In English class, everyone badgered Mr. Birk-way to finish reading the journal entry that he had begun yesterday, the one about Mrs. Corpse and the body, but Mr. Birkway did not read any more journals.
From "Walk Two Moons" by Sharon Creech
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
