core

noun, often attributive \ ˈkȯr \

Editor's Note: corps or core (or corp or corpse)?

Definition of core

1 : a central and often foundational part usually distinct from the enveloping part by a difference in nature

the core of the city

: such as

a : the usually inedible central part of some fruits (such as a pineapple); especially : the papery or leathery carpels composing the ripened ovary in a pome fruit (such as an apple)

b : the place in a nuclear reactor where fission (see ¹fission 3) occurs

c : an arrangement of a course of studies that combines under basic topics material from subjects conventionally separated and aims to provide a common background for all students

core curriculum

d : the portion of a foundry mold that shapes the interior of a hollow casting

e : a vertical space (as for elevator shafts, stairways, or plumbing apparatus) in a multistory building

f (1) : a computer memory consisting of an array of cores strung on fine wires; broadly : the internal memory of a computer

(2) : a tiny doughnut-shaped piece of magnetic material (such as ferrite) used in computer memories

(3) : a mass of iron serving to concentrate and intensify the magnetic field resulting from a current in a surrounding coil

g : the central part of a celestial body (such as the earth or sun) usually having different physical properties from the surrounding parts

h : a nodule of stone (such as flint or obsidian) from which flakes have been struck for making implements

i : the conducting wire with its insulation in an electric cable

2 a : a basic, essential, or enduring part (as of an individual, a class, or an entity)

the staff had a core of experts

the core of her beliefs

b : the essential meaning : gist

the core of the argument

c : the inmost or most intimate part

honest to the core

3 : a part (such as a thin cylinder of material) removed from the interior of a mass especially to determine composition

corps or core (or corp or corpse)?

Corps and core are homophones with completely distinct meanings. Whereas corps usually refers to a group of people, core, a word of uncertain origin, carries the senses “the central or most important part of something” or “the usually inedible central part of some fruits.” Corp and corpse share an etymology with corps; all three words come from the Latin corpus, meaning “body.” However, corp is an abbreviation for “corporation” and corpse is most often used to mean “a dead body, especially of a human being.” (Before the eighteenth century, corpse could and often did also refer to a living body.)