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corpse

/kɔrps/
/kɔps/
IPA guide

Another name for a dead body is corpse. You might hear the word on TV crime shows, but a corpse doesn't have to be a crime victim, just any lifeless body.

The words corpse and "corps" are often confused, and with good reason — both came from the Latin word corpus, meaning "body," and up until the 19th Century, both referred to a dead person. Around that time, the word with the "e" at the end was established as the word for a person's remains, while the other spelling was relegated to a "body" of people working together or in a military division, and very much alive!

Definitions of corpse
  1. noun
    the dead body of a human being
    “the end of the police search was the discovery of a corpse
    synonyms: cadaver, clay, remains, stiff
    see moresee less
    types:
    cremains
    the remains of a dead body after cremation
    type of:
    body, dead body
    a natural object consisting of a dead animal or person
Pronunciation
US
/kɔrps/
UK
/kɔps/
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