adj
corporal
KAWP-ruhl
adj
1
Relating to the physical body rather than the mind or spirit.
"Corporal punishment involves physically striking someone as a penalty."
"The soldiers endured great corporal hardship on the march."
noun
1
A junior military rank, above private and below sergeant.
"She was promoted to corporal after two years of service."
How to Use Corporal
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishAs an adjective, relating to the body; as a noun, a low-ranking soldier or officer.
Common mistake
Don't confuse with "corporeal" (having a physical body, more general/philosophical) or "corporal" the military rank — same spelling, different senses depending on context.
Easily confused with
corporeal
Common pairings
corporal punishment
corporal in the army
Word Forms
corporals plural, corporals plural
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_____ punishment involves physically striking someone as a penalty.
Etymology
From Old French corporal, from Latin corporalis, "of the body" — from corpus, "body". The military rank likely developed via Italian caporale, "head of a squad," which got reshaped in English to look like the "body" word.