Adjacent Words

Corporation definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CORPORATION, n. A body politic or corporate, formed and authorized by law to act as a single person; a society having the capacity of transacting business as an individual. Corporations are aggregate or sole. Corporations aggregate consist of two or more persons united in a society, which is preserved by a succession of members, either forever, or till the corporation is dissolved by the power that formed it, by the death of all its members, by surrender of its charter or franchises, or by forfeiture. Such corporations are the mayor and aldermen of cities, the head and fellows of a college, the dean and chapter of a cathedral church, the stockholders of a bank or insurance company, etc. A corporation sole consists of one person only and his successors, as a king or a bishop.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a business firm whose articles of incorporation have been approved in some state [syn: corporation, corp]
2: slang for a paunch [syn: pot, potbelly, bay window, corporation, tummy]

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 15th century 1. a. a group of merchants or traders united in a trade guild b. the municipal authorities of a town or city 2. a body formed and authorized by law to act as a single person although constituted by one or more persons and legally endowed with various rights and duties including the capacity of succession 3. an association of employers and employees in a basic industry or of members of a profession organized as an organ of political representation in a corporative state 4. potbelly 1

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a group of people authorized to act as an individual and recognized in law as a single entity, esp. in business. 2 the municipal authorities of a borough, town, or city. 3 joc. a protruding stomach. Etymology: LL corporatio (as CORPORATE)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Corporation Cor`po*ra"tion (k[^o]r`p[-o]*r[=a]"sh[u^]n), n. [L. corporatio incarnation: cf. F. corporation corporation.] A body politic or corporate, formed and authorized by law to act as a single person, and endowed by law with the capacity of succession; a society having the capacity of transacting business as an individual. Note: Corporations are aggregate or sole. Corporations aggregate consist of two or more persons united in a society, which is preserved by a succession of members, either forever or till the corporation is dissolved by the power that formed it, by the death of all its members, by surrender of its charter or franchises, or by forfeiture. Such corporations are the mayor and aldermen of cities, the head and fellows of a college, the dean and chapter of a cathedral church, the stockholders of a bank or insurance company, etc. A corporation sole consists of a single person, who is made a body corporate and politic, in order to give him some legal capacities, and especially that of succession, which as a natural person he can not have. Kings, bishops, deans, parsons, and vicars, are in England sole corporations. A fee will not pass to a corporation sole without the word ``successors'' in the grant. There are instances in the United States of a minister of a parish seized of parsonage lands in the right of his parish, being a corporation sole, as in Massachusetts. Corporations are sometimes classified as public and private; public being convertible with municipal, and private corporations being all corporations not municipal. Close corporation. See under Close.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(corporations) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. A corporation is a large business or company. (BUSINESS) ...multi-national corporations. ...the Seiko Corporation. N-COUNT; N-IN-NAMES 2. In some large British cities, the corporation is the local authority that is responsible for providing public services. ...the corporation's task of regenerating 900 acres of the inner city. = local authority N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Incorporated body.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

A large belly. He has a glorious corporation; he has a very prominent belly.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

The magistrates, etc. of a corporate town. Corpus sine ratione. Freemen of a corporation's work; neither strong nor handsome.

Moby Thesaurus

Aktiengesellschaft, agency, aktiebolag, atelier, barbershop, bay window, beauty parlor, beauty shop, bench, body corporate, business, business establishment, butcher shop, cartel, chamber of commerce, combine, commercial enterprise, compagnie, company, concern, conglomerate, conglomerate corporation, consolidating company, consortium, copartnership, corporate body, desk, diversified corporation, enterprise, establishment, facility, firm, holding company, house, industry, installation, institution, joint-stock association, joint-stock company, loft, operating company, organization, parlor, partnership, paunch, plunderbund, pod, pool, pot, public utility, shop, stock company, studio, sweatshop, syndicate, trade association, trust, utility, work site, work space, workbench, workhouse, working space, workplace, workroom, workshop, worktable