corpus
noun, plural cor·po·ra [kawr-per-uh] /ˈkɔr pər ə/ or, sometimes, cor·pus·es.
Origin of corpus
Words nearby corpus
VOCAB BUILDER
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?
What are some words that share a root or word element with corpus?
What are some words that often get used in discussing corpus?
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