ENGLISH
REFERENCE

esprit de corps

idiom
Meaning

A shared spirit of comradeship, enthusiasm, and devotion to a cause among the members of a group, for example of a military unit.


Origin

disputed origin

Unadapted borrowing from French esprit de corps, from esprit (“spirit”) + de (“of”) + corps (“body”).

Examples
SIMPLE

The team has a strong esprit de corps.

CONTEXTUAL

The captain gave a speech to boost the team's esprit de corps before the final match.

COMPLEX

The long months of shared hardship in the field fostered an unbreakable esprit de corps among the soldiers, binding them together through every challenge they faced.

Anchors to
Related idioms1entry
  1. 01

    crème de la crème

    Best of the best; something superlative; the very best.

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