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corporation definition

cor·po·ra·tion (kôr′pə rās̸hən)

noun

  1. a legal entity that exists independently of the person or persons who have been granted the charter creating it and that is invested with many of the rights given to individuals: a corporation may enter into contracts, buy and sell property, etc.
  2. a group of people, as the mayor and aldermen of an incorporated town, legally authorized to act as an individual
  3. any of the political and economic bodies forming a corporative state, each being composed of the employers and employees in a certain industry, profession, etc.
  4. Etymology: prob. from assoc. with corpulent, etc.

    Informal a large, prominent belly

Etymology: ME corporacioun < LL(Ec) corporatio, assumption of a body, incarnation < pp. of L corporare: see corporate

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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