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Origin and history of corporation

corporation(n.)

mid-15c., corporacioun, "persons united in a body for some purpose," from such use in Anglo-Latin, from Late Latin corporationem (nominative corporatio) "assumption of a body" (used of the incarnation of Christ), noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin corporare "embody, make or fashion into a body," from corpus (genitive corporis) "body, dead body, animal body," also "a whole composed of united parts, a structure, system, community, corporation, political body, a guild" (from PIE root *kwrep- "body, form, appearance").

Meaning "legally authorized entity, artificial person created by law from a group or succession of persons" (such as municipal governments and modern business companies) is from 1610s.

also from mid-15c.

Entries linking to corporation

*kwrep-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "body, form, appearance," probably a verbal root meaning "to appear."

It might form all or part of: corporal (adj.) "of or belonging to the body;" corporate; corporation; corporeal; corps; corpse; corpulence; corpulent; corpus; corpuscle; corsage; corse; corset; incorporeal; incorporate; leprechaun; midriff.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit krp- "form, body;" Avestan kerefsh "form, body;" Latin corpus "body" (living or dead); Old English hrif "belly," Old High German href "womb, belly, abdomen."

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    pot
    "deep, circular vessel," from late Old English pott and Old French pot "pot, container, mortar" (also in erotic senses), both from a general Low Germanic (Old Frisian pott, Middle Dutch pot) and Romanic word from Vulgar Latin *pottus, which is of uncertain origin, said by Barnhar
    incorporation
    The act of uniting several persons into one fiction called a corporation, in order that they may be no longer responsible...A, B and C are a corporation....It is a plundering, thieving, swindling corporation....But A, B and C, who have jointly determined and severally executed every crime of the corporation, are blameless....
    corporate
    early 15c., "united in one body, constituted as a legal corporation," as a number of individuals empowered to do business...The past participle, corporatus, also was used as a noun meaning "member of a corporation."...
    fridge
    Frigidaire (1919), name of a popular early brand of self-contained automatically operated iceless refrigerator (Frigidaire Corporation...
    syndic
    Meaning "accredited representative of a university or other corporation" first found c. 1600. Related: Syndical....
    ABC
    shortening of American Broadcasting Company from 1944 (in a Billboard magazine headline), earlier of Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
    syndicate
    1620s, "council or body of representatives," from French syndicat (15c.), from syndic "representative of a corporation" (...
    conglomerate
    "gathered into a ball or rounded mass," 1570s, from Latin conglomeratus, past participle of conglomerare "to roll together, concentrate, heap up," from assimilated form of com "with, together" (see con-) + glomerare "to gather into a ball, collect," from glomus (genitive glomeris
    empire
    mid-14c., "territory subject to an emperor's rule;" in general "realm, dominion;" late 14c. as "authority of an emperor, supreme power in governing; imperial power," in Middle English generally of the Roman Empire. From Old French empire "rule, authority, kingdom, imperial rule"
    house
    Old English hus "dwelling, shelter, building designed to be used as a residence," from Proto-Germanic *hūsan (source also of Old Norse, Old Frisian hus, Dutch huis, German Haus), of unknown origin, perhaps connected to the root of hide (v.) [OED]. In Gothic only in gudhus "temple

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