corporeal

adjective cor·po·re·al \ kȯr-ˈpȯr-ē-əl \

|Updated on: 22 Jul 2018

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Examples: corporeal in a Sentence

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Definition of corporeal

1 : having, consisting of, or relating to a physical material body: such as

a : not spiritual

… some few traces of a diviner nature which look out through his corporeal baseness …
—Robert Browning

b : not immaterial or intangible : substantial

corporeal property

2 archaic : corporal

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corporeally

play \kȯr-ˈpȯr-ē-ə-lē\ adverb

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corporealness

noun

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Examples of corporeal in a Sentence

the corporeal nature of matter
corporeal cravings such as hunger and thirst

Recent Examples of corporeal from the Web

Cable subscribers who are used to conventional, corporeal sports.

— eric van allen, WIRED, "Live on ESPN: Is Esports Finally Ready for Its Crossover Moment?," 11 July 2018
Spellbound’s artists will lead the audience through the corporeal journey.

— kt hawbaker, chicagotribune.com, "The Chicago Children's Theatre announces inclusive 2018-19 season," 9 May 2018
Now, after being given a corporeal form, all the little prince needs is a name.

— kelly conaboy, The Cut, "7 Unbiased Name Suggestions for Duchess Kate’s Third Child," 23 Apr. 2018
At age 93, iconic Sacramento priest Monsignor Edward Kavanagh had only one desire left: to leave the corporeal world on St. Patrick’s Day and spend it instead with his favorite saint above.

— anita chabria, sacbee, "‘He was not timid’: Longtime Sacramento priest loved his parishioners, native Ireland | The Sacramento Bee," 17 Mar. 2018
A few years before the story started, the god Eothas supposedly took on corporeal form as a farmer named Waidwen and started a holy war, and the opposing side blew him up with a bomb constructed with the help of the other gods.

— thomas wells, Ars Technica, "An appreciation of games that click back and change the gamers who love them," 16 Jan. 2018
In recent years, political geeks have eagerly cataloged and compared the corporeal quirks of presidential candidates in search of patterns that reveal what the American people are looking for in a leader.

— Newsweek, "Analysis," 14 Mar. 2018
And though her words may shock and at times nauseate, Han’s corporeal investigations appear in service of a less horrifying goal: stealing a glimpse at the gentler, sturdier stuff that has no form—the soul.

— the editors, The Atlantic, "The Best Books We Read in 2017," 22 Dec. 2017
In another work, a shiny row of human teeth gets repurposed as the spine of a beast perched on a man’s head: an animalistic portrait of the human psyche, joyfully unleashed yet inextricably linked to its corporeal host.

— jane yong kim, The Atlantic, "The Sad, Ecstatic Passions of Carol Rama," 3 Sep. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'corporeal.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

In various religions, including Christianity, corporeal existence is often called the opposite of spiritual existence, and corporeal existence, unlike spiritual existence, is often said to be contaminated with evil. The word is also often used by philosophers, especially when considering the nature of reality. For lawyers, corporeal describes physical property such as houses or cars, as opposed to something valuable but nonphysical like a good reputation.

Origin and Etymology of corporeal

Middle English, from Latin corporeus of the body, from corpor-, corpus — see corpus

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First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

corporeal Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of corporeal

material, physical, corporeal, phenomenal, sensible, objective mean of or belonging to actuality. material implies formation out of tangible matter; used in contrast with spiritual or ideal it may connote the mundane, crass, or grasping.