a noncommissioned officer ranking above a private first class in the U.S. Army or lance corporal in the Marines and below a sergeant.
b.
a similar rank in the armed services of other countries.
2.
(initial capital letter) a U.S. surface-to-surface, single-stage ballistic missile.
Origin: 1570–80; < MF, var. of caporal (influenced by corporalcorporal1) < It caporale, appar. contr. of phrase capo corporale corporal head, i.e., head of a body (of soldiers). See caput
"of or belonging to the body," c.1390, from O.Fr. corporal, from L. corporalis, from corpus (gen. corporis) "body" (see corps). Corporal punishment (1581) is that inflicted on the body as opposed to fines or loss of rank.
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