cor·po·ra·tion

[kawr-puh-rey-shuhn]
noun
1.
an association of individuals, created by law or under authority of law, having a continuous existence independent of the existences of its members, and powers and liabilities distinct from those of its members. See also municipal corporation, public corporation.
2.
( initial capital letter ) the group of principal officials of a borough or other municipal division in England.
3.
any group of persons united or regarded as united in one body.
4.
Informal. a paunch; potbelly.
Origin:
1400–50; late Middle English < Late Latin corporātiōn- (stem of corporātiō) ‘guild’, Latin: ‘physical makeup, build’. See corporate, -ion

Related forms
cor·po·ra·tion·al, adjective
mul·ti·cor·po·ra·tion, noun
non·cor·po·ra·tion, noun
sub·cor·po·ra·tion, noun
su·per·cor·po·ra·tion, noun

Usage note
See collective noun.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To corporations
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Corporations is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
corporation (ˌkɔːpəˈreɪʃən) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n
1.  a group of people authorized by law to act as a legal personality and having its own powers, duties, and liabilities
2.  Also called: municipal corporation the municipal authorities of a city or town
3.  a group of people acting as one body
4.  See public corporation
5.  informal a large paunch or belly

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

corporation
1530s, "persons united in a body for some purpose," from such use in Anglo-Latin, from L. corporationem, noun of action from corporare "to embody" (see corporate). Meaning "legally authorized entity" (including municipal governments and modern business companies) is from 1610s.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary

corporation definition


A business organization owned by a group of stockholders, each of whom enjoys limited liability (that is, each can be held responsible for losses only up to the limit of his or her investment). A corporation has the ability to raise capital by selling stock to the public.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Example sentences
Scientists must ask corporations for permission before publishing independent
  research on genetically modified crops.
The other half is that corporations necessarily also earned beyond their means.
Corporations use it for their phone systems because it's cheaper than hiring
  real people.
The idea is that the money allows corporations to take on higher-risk projects.
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