▪ I. corps
(kɔə(r))
Pl. corps (kɔəz). Also 8 corpse.
[For history, see corpse. As short for corps d'armée, it is found in French before 1700, and appears to have come up in English during Marlborough's campaigns. Here it was prob. at first pronounced like English corps, corpse; but before the end of the 18th c. the French pronunciation generally prevailed, and with this the Fr. spelling was retained, while for the senses with the English pronunciation the spelling corpse was established.]
† 1. The earlier spelling of corpse ‘body’, in all senses of that word. Obs.
2. Mil. a. A division of an army, forming a tactical unit; a body of troops regularly organized; a body of men who are assigned to a special service.
| 1711 Addison Spect. No. 165 ¶5 [In a letter ‘very modishly chequered with this Modern Mililtary Eloquence’] Our Army being divided into two Corps. 1712 ― ibid. No. 289 ¶2 An huge Army made up of innumerable Corps, if I may use that Term. 1753 W. Melmoth tr. Cicero's Lett. xiv. xvii. (R.), I immediately returned back to join my little corps. 1755 Johnson, Corps, Corpse..5. A body of forces. 1793 W. Roberts Looker-on (1794) II. 382 No. 59 These little volunteer corps..have already begun to make a sensible impression. 1796 Hull Advertiser 9 Jan. 1/4 A rescue and a riot by the rest of the corpse might possibly be the result. 1814 Wellington in Gurw. Desp. XII. 13 A corps consisting of about 12,000 rank and file of British infantry, a regiment of cavalry, and six companies of artillery. 1816 ‘Quiz’ Grand Master ii. 53 He's ordered off to join a corps, Which he had never seen before. 1859 Musketry Instr. 84 A serjeant, who does not belong to the corps of instructors of musketry. 1881 Army Act 44–5 Vict. c. 58. pt. 5. s. 190 (15). [Defines the expression ‘corps’.] |
‖ b. In Fr. phrases: corps d'armée (kɔr darme), a main division of an army in the field, an army-corps; corps de bataille (kɔr də batɑj), the central part of an army drawn up for battle between the wings; corps d'élite (kɔr delit), a body of picked men; a select group; corps de réserve (kɔr də rezɛrv), a reserve force kept out of the action, to give help if needed; corps volant (kɔr vɔlɑ̃), a body of troops intended for rapid movements. Also corps de garde.
| 1704 Lond. Gaz. No. 4044/2 His Grace..ordered the Corps de Reserve to advance. 1762 Foote Orator i. Wks. 1799 I. 200 If..we estimate this corps de reserve at the half only of the standing force. 1799 Piece Family Biog. II. 82 They had immediately sent a corps d'observation into the larder. 1812 Examiner 24 Aug. 531/2 The Russian Army..consisted of five Corps-d'armée, each of two divisions. 1830 Gen. P. Thompson Exerc. (1842) I. 323 The apparition of a corps d'armée under the tri-coloured flag. 1884 J. Sharman Hist. Swearing vi. 105 In every society there has existed a certain corps d'élite. 1931 Times Lit. Suppl. 1 Jan. 2/3 The 1st Cavalry, a corps d'élite organized by Jefferson Davis. 1943 J. S. Huxley TVA ix. 56 A workers' corps d'élite from whose ranks men can be picked to undertake the more skilled jobs. 1958 Observer 18 May 6/4 Grammar school pupils—the bulk of our future corps d'élite. 1970 Times 19 Nov. 10/2 The Bar is not remotely a corps d'élite—as is impliedly..claimed. |
c. fig.
| 1746–7 Hervey Medit. (1818) 129 It renders the flowery tribes a sort of immortal corps; for, though some are continually dropping, yet..others are as continually rising to beautify our borders. 1822 Q. Rev. XXVII. 117 Most of us have our little corps of consolations. |
3. gen. a. A body or company of persons associated in a common organization, or acting under a common direction. Cf. core n.2
| c 1730 Burt Lett. N. Scot. (1818) I. 21 This corps has a kind of captain or magistrate presiding over them, whom they call constable of the caudys. 1803 Med. Jrnl. IX. 356 The whole respectable corps of counsellors, attornies, and bailiffs. 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. i. ix, The whole dramatic corps. 1832 H. Martineau Ireland vi. 103 Looking round..on his..ragged corps of labourers. 1882 C. Pebody Eng. Journalism xii. (1882) 87 One of the most brilliant of the corps of writers who made the reputation of the Saturday Review. |
‖ b. corps diplomatique (kɔr diplɔmatik): the body of ambassadors, attachés, etc. accredited to a particular Court or Capital; the diplomatic corps or body. In Burke = corps of law: see corpse 4.
| 1796 Burke Regic. Peace ii. Wks. VIII. 235 All this body of old conventions, composing the vast and voluminous collection called the corps diplomatique, forms the code or statute law. 1806 T. S. Surr Winter in Lond. (ed. 3) II. 88 Making an eloquent defence of the whole corps diplomatique against the charges of ‘the honourable gentlemen on the other side of the house’. |
‖ c. corps de ballet (kɔr də bale): the dancers in a ballet; the company of ballet-dancers at a theatre. Also fig.
| 1826 M. Kelly Reminisc. (ed. 2) I. 165 There was an excellent, and very expensive corps de ballet. 1836 Dickens in Morn. Chron. 24 Sept. 3/2 The whole of the characters, including a numerous corps de ballet of boots and shoes in the back-ground. a 1845 Barham Ingol. Leg., Aunt Fanny, A nymph of the corps de ballet. 1849 Thackeray Pendennis xiv, The glances which all the corps-de-ballet..cast towards his box. 1958 Times 19 Aug. 11/3 Some signs of raggedness among the corps de ballet. |
d. A students' society in a German University. Also attrib.
| 1874 J. M. Hart German Univ. iv (Cent. D.), A corps has no existence outside of its own university; it has no affiliations, no ‘chapters’. 1904 Daily Chron. 29 Dec. 4/6, I hope that, as long as there are German corps-students, the spirit which is fostered in their corps..will be preserved. 1905 Westm. Gaz. 29 Apr. 14/1 As a corps-student the Crown Prince never felt at ease. |
† 4. spirit of (the) corps (= F. esprit de corps): see esprit. in corps: in a body, collectively (F. en corps). Obs.
| 1767 Burke Corr. (1844) I. 135 The world greatly mistook you if they imagined you would come in [to power] otherwise than in corps. 1796 ― Let. Noble Ld. Wks. VIII. 56 When..they come to understand one another, and to act in corps. 1769 Junius Lett. xxx. 138, I am sorry to see..the spirit of the corps. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St. Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) II. 480 The spirit of corps animates them to such a degree, that, etc. |
‖ 5. corps de logis (kɔr də lɔʒi), the body of a house, the main part of a building; also occas., a structure wholly or partly disconnected from the main building.
| a 1666 Evelyn Diary 9 Feb. an. 1644 (1955) II. 104 In the Court aux Thuilleries is a princely fabrique... To this is a Corps de logis worthy of so greate a Prince. a 1700 Ibid. 25 Sept. an. 1672 III. 625 His new house..has many noble roomes in it, but they are not so Convenient..consisting of but one Corps de Logis. 1787 Beckford Italy (1834) II. xxii. 129 Joining on to the enormous corps de logis, the palace terminates to the right and left. 1886 C. M. Yonge Chantry House I. viii. 74 A still older portion, more ancient than the square corps de logis. |
‖ 6. corps à corps (kɔr a kɔr), body to body; in immediate contact; spec. in Fencing (see quot. 1910). Also transf. and fig.
| 1890 A. Hutton Fixed Bayonets 17 The position known as ‘Corps à corps’, when the combatants are so close together that it is impossible for either of them to disentangle his weapon or withdraw his point. 1905 Mrs. H. Ward Marriage W. Ashe ix. 169 The two men were measured against each other corps à corps,—the wide knowledge..of the minister, against the originality..of the writer. 1910 Encycl. Brit. X. 594/2 ‘Corps-à-corps’ (body to body), the position of two fencers who are at such close quarters that their persons touch; when this occurs the fencers must again come on guard. 1931 Wyndham Lewis Let. 5 May (1963) 202, I have been engaged in a close corps-a-corps business struggle for some weeks. 1939 A. Toynbee Study of Hist. IV. 430 Our..question of who is to capture the world market is being settled by a direct encounter between the competitors, corps à corps. 1969 R. Thomas Singapore Wink xxiv. 242 There was no corps-à-corps with our wrists locked and straining. |
▪ II. corps
bad obs. spelling of course.
(Due to the spelling of cors, corps, as course, and consequent tendency to confound the two words.)