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.
Pangy the corpse flower is back in bloom.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 16, 2026
Mojtaba Khamanei said in his message he had seen the late ayatollah's corpse after his "martyrdom".
From Barron's • Mar. 13, 2026
Héctor checked for vitals and then placed a paper blanket over the corpse.
From BBC • Feb. 25, 2026
“The folkloric Euro-American story of the ‘headless horseman’ comes to mind — a nightmarish, animated corpse who haunts the living.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 24, 2026
And I was sleeping like a corpse, got blasted from the depths Monday morning by Sum 41 screaming about the state of the world on my clock radio.
From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx
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.
