corporeal, a. (n.)
(kɔːˈpɔəriːəl)
[f. L. corpore-us of the nature of body, bodily, physical (f. corpus, corpor- body) + -al1: cf. corporeous.]
A. adj.
1. Of the nature of the animal body as opposed to the spirit; physical; bodily; mortal.
| 1610 Healey St. Aug. Citie of God 706 Corporeall shall hee [Christ] sit; and thence extend His doome on soules. a 1661 Fuller Worthies (1840) III. 6 How inconsistent..to couple a spiritual grace with matters of corporeal repast. 1709 Strype Ann. Ref. I. xxv. 281 Nor allowed of any manner of corporeal presence in the Sacrament. 1754 Sherlock Disc. (1759) I. vi. 202 It was universally agreed that all that was Corporeal of Man died. 1870 H. Macmillan Bible Teach. viii. 153 The corporeal frame of every human being..is composed of the same mineral substances. |
2. Of the nature of matter; material.
| a 1619 M. Fotherby Atheom. ii. xii. §1 (1622) 332 Of things corporeal, and incorporeall; of things liuing, and without life. 1660 Boyle New Exp. Phys.-Mech. xvii. 119 Whether..the exsuction of the Air do prove the place..to be truly empty, that is, devoid of all Corporeal Substance. 1725 tr. Dupin's Eccl. Hist. 17th C. I. v. 164 He holds..that..the Devils and the Damn'd are punish'd by a Corporeal Fire. 1788 Reid Aristotle's Log. i. §2. 7 Are genera and species corporeal or incorporeal? 1864 Bowen Logic x. 334 Our conception of any corporeal thing must include..those obvious qualities, such as shape, color, specific gravity, etc. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 533 That which is created is of necessity corporeal and visible and tangible. |
3. Law. Tangible; consisting of material objects; esp. in corporeal hereditament: see quot. 1767.
| c 1670 Hobbes Dial. Com. Laws 45 Some Goods are Corporeal..which may be handled, or seen; and some Incorporeal, as Priviledges, Liberties, Dignities, Offices. 1767 Blackstone Comm. II. 17 Corporeal hereditaments consist wholly of substantial and permanent objects. 1844 Williams Real Prop. 11 A manor, which is corporeal property. 1880 Muirhead tr. Instit. Gaius ii. §12 Corporeal [things] are those that are tangible, such as land, a slave, a garment, gold, silver, and other things innumerable. |
b. Bodily; wherein the body is affected.
| 1765 Blackstone Comm. I. 271 Degrees of nobility..by immediate grant from the crown: either expressed in writing, by writs or letters patent, as in the creations of peers and baronets; or by corporeal investiture, as in the creation of a simple knight. |
† 4. Formerly used where corporal is now employed. Obs.
| 1722 Sewel Hist. Quakers (1795) I. Pref. 13 Death or any corporeal punishment. 1808 Med. Jrnl. XIX. 1 Can a man really suffer corporeal pain, and have at the same time all the criteria, etc.? 1831 Sir W. Hamilton Discuss. (1852) 408 He could enforce discipline by the infliction of corporeal punishment. |
B. n. pl. [= corporeal things.] Things material.
| 1647 H. More Song of Soul ii. ii. ii. vi, They [the senses] never knew ought but corporealls. 1678 Cudworth Intell. Syst. 779 We should think of Incorporeals, so as not to Confound their Natures with Corporeals. |
b. Things pertaining to the human body. rare.
| 1826 Blackw. Mag. XX. 129/1 Of their mental powers, men..form in general a pretty fair estimate, but they are often sadly out respecting corporeals. |
c. Law. Corporeal possessions.
| 1880 Muirhead Gaius ii. §14 Nor does it affect our definition that there are corporeals included in an inheritance. |