corpuscular

American  

[kawr-puhs-kyuh-ler] / kɔrˈpʌs kyə lər /

Rarely corpusculated

adjective

1. Biology. of or relating to a corpuscle, or unattached cell, especially of the kind that floats freely, such as a blood or lymph cell.

   Mean corpuscular volume (MCV) is the average size of red blood cells.

2. Anatomy. of or relating to a corpuscle, a small mass or body of cells forming a more or less distinct part, such as the sensory receptors at nerve endings.

3. Physical Chemistry. of or relating to a corpuscle, a minute or elementary particle of matter, such as an electron, proton, or atom.

4. being, relating to, or similar to a particle.

   Do the experiment with something known to be corpuscular rather than wavelike, such as marbles.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• noncorpuscular
  adjective
• corpuscularity
  noun
• intercorpuscular
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of corpuscular

First recorded in 1660–70; Latin corpuscul(um) “small body” ( see corpuscle ( def. )) + -ar ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

Large, irregular, corpuscular clouds made of crumpled paper hung over the stage.

From Los Angeles Times • May 28, 2026

Newton explained his optics findings in terms of a "corpuscular" view of light, in which light was composed of streams of extremely tiny particles travelling at high speeds according to Newton's laws of motion.

From Textbooks • Feb. 14, 2019

A German astronomer, Ludwig Biermann, suggested that particles emitted from the sun — what he called solar corpuscular radiation — were shaping the comet tails.

From New York Times • Aug. 10, 2018

Newton took Descartes’idea and developed the corpuscular theory of light.

From Scientific American • Oct. 14, 2013

Of the core three arguments we have distinguished—the corpuscular philosophy, animals as automatons and the clockwork universe—they agree on the first, but each picks one and only one of the other two.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton