corporeal (2009-10-11)

Part of Speech: adjective

Pronunciation: [kor-'por-ee-êl]

Definition: (1) Bodily, pertaining to a tangible, physical, animal body specifically as opposed to anything spiritual. (2) Material, physical, tangible.

Usage: Speaking of Church Latin (see below for the etymology), transubstantiation makes the body and blood of Christ corporeal in the Roman Catholic communion. But secular applications do arise: "The corporeal flaws seem to accumulate with age no matter how much you exercise." Selecting this word rather than "corporal" specifically excludes spiritual flaws.

Suggested Usage: (1) This word is the opposite of "spiritual." Be careful not to confuse it with "corporal" ['kor-pê-rêl], which also means "bodily" but does not imply you are distinguishing the bodily from the spiritual. (2) "Corporeal matters" are usually related to the flesh, but the term can be stretched to include the material evidence of any idea. "A novel is the corporeal relic of a writer's mind."

Etymology: From Latin "corporeus," from corpor- "body." The PIE root *kwrep- gives us the words "corpuscle," "corpse," "corpus," and, oddly enough, "leprechaun." The Irish word is "lucorpan" from Old Irish lu- "small" + corpan "body" from the same Latin root, a testament to how Church Latin was interwoven with Irish Gaelic over the centuries.