corpus

[ kawr-puhs ]

noun

, plural cor·po·ra [kawr, -per-, uh] or, sometimes, cor·pus·es.

1. a large or complete collection of writings:

   the entire corpus of Old English poetry.

2. the body of a person or animal, especially when dead.
3. Anatomy. a body, mass, or part having a special character or function.
4. Linguistics. a body of utterances, as words or sentences, assumed to be representative of and used for lexical, grammatical, or other linguistic analysis.
5. a principal or capital sum, as opposed to interest or income.

corpus

/ ˈkɔːpəs /

noun

1. a collection or body of writings, esp by a single author or on a specific topic

   the corpus of Dickens' works

2. the main body, section, or substance of something
3. anatomy
   1. any distinct mass or body
   2. the main part of an organ or structure
4. the inner layer or layers of cells of the meristem at a shoot tip, which produces the vascular tissue and pith Compare tunica
5. linguistics a body of data, esp the finite collection of grammatical sentences of a language that a linguistic theory seeks to describe by means of an algorithm
6. a capital or principal sum, as contrasted with a derived income
7. obsolete.
   a human or animal body, esp a dead one

Word History and Origins

Origin of corpus¹

First recorded in 1225–75; Middle English, from Latin

Word History and Origins

Origin of corpus¹

C14: from Latin: body

Example Sentences

“The Japanese in California should be under armed guard to the last man and woman right now and to hell with habeas corpus until the danger is over,” Pegler wrote.

From Los Angeles Times

Previous efforts by the brothers and their attorneys to cut short their incarceration have been fruitless, but a new writ of habeas corpus citing new evidence is being considered by the Dist.

From Los Angeles Times

In the corpus of our political system, a vice president is like an appendix; it does some good, but you could easily live without one.

From Los Angeles Times

Notably, these include cancers that are linked to obesity including "colorectum, uterine corpus, gallbladder and other biliary, kidney and renal pelvis, and pancreas" cancers.

From Salon

“We don’t have the corpus of wealth that can do that.”

From Seattle Times

More About Corpus

What does corpus mean?

Corpus most commonly refers to a large or comprehensive collection of creative works, such as all of the writings of a particular author.

An artist’s corpus is their body of work, and in fact the word corpus comes from the Latin word meaning “body.” (This Latin word appears in the well-known legal phrase habeas corpus, meaning “(you may) have the body.”)

More generally, corpus is used in English to refer to the main body, section, or substance of something.

The word is used in a more specific way in linguistics to refer to an entire set of a particular linguistic element within a language, such as words or sentences.

It’s also used in several more specific ways in the context of anatomy in the names of body parts.

The correct plural of corpus can be either corpora or corpuses. (Other Latin-derived words can be pluralized in the same way as corpora.)

Example: Instead of devoting my dissertation to examining a specific theme throughout her corpus, I decided to focus on a single work.

Where does corpus come from?

The first records of the use of the word corpus in English come from the 1200s. It comes from the Latin corpus, meaning “body.” This root forms the basis of many words pertaining to the body or referring to a body in the sense of a group, such as corpse and corps.

Corpus most commonly refers to a collection of texts of a particular author or within some category. The corpus of Shakespeare, for example, is the collection of everything he ever wrote. The word collection here doesn’t necessarily mean it’s all kept in one place like a library or a database—it simply refers to everything in existence that fits into that category.

The word corpus isn’t only used for a collection of works by a single author, or even written works. Corpora can exist for all kinds of topics, time periods, and works.

Did you know ... ?

What are some other forms related to corpus?

• corpora (plural)
• corpuses (plural)

What are some synonyms for corpus?

• collection
• compilation
• oeuvre
• mass

What are some words that share a root or word element with corpus? 

• corpse
• corps
• corporeal
• corpulent

What are some words that often get used in discussing corpus?

 

• work
• writing
• author
• text
• habeas 
• writ
• body

How is corpus used in real life?

Corpus is most often used in an academic context in the analysis of literature, but it can be used in many other situations.

What we’re watching: a video essay that shows how Martin Scorsese’s corpus is a crime scene of crimson. https://t.co/P9HchuPGUi

— One Perfect Shot (@OnePerfectShot) May 6, 2020

Sometimes I think Vonnegut's "we're here on Earth to fart around" is better than the whole corpus of existential literature.

— Zach Weinersmith (@ZachWeiner) June 6, 2014

More examples of qualified laughter from my corpus of caption files:

(Laughter receding)
(Light applause)
(Laughter stops)
(Nervous laughter)
(Mocking laughter)
(Crowd mocking and laughing)
(Laughs mockingly)
(Mourners laughing)
(Laughs softly)
(Laughing evilly)
(Hyena laughing) https://t.co/7w1RTr8Zdd

— Sean Zdenek (@seanzdenek) December 31, 2019

 

 

 

 

Try using corpus!

Which of the following terms could be used in reference to a corpus? 

A. collection
B. compilation
C. body of work
D. all of the above