Word
corporation
Phoneticscor·po·ra·tion
US/ˌkɔɹpɝˈeɪʃən/
UK/kˌɔːpəɹˈeɪʃən/
Definitions
01a large company
n. a large company or business that is owned by many people but acts as a single unit.
n. a large business organisation that is legally recognised as a single entity, separate from its owners or shareholders.
“The multinational corporation has offices in over fifty different countries.”
“The corporation faced significant legal challenges after failing to disclose its environmental impact to the board of directors.”
Usage
Often used with 'multinational' or 'global' to describe very large businesses.
Synonyms
02city government
n. the group of people who govern a city or town.
n. the municipal governing body of a city or borough, particularly in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth nations.
“The city corporation decided to build a new park in the town centre.”
“The City of London Corporation manages the financial district and maintains several major bridges across the Thames.”
British English · Formal
Usage
Usually capitalised when referring to a specific city's governing body.
Synonyms
03a large belly
n. a humorous way to describe a person's large, round stomach.
n. a protruding belly or paunch, used as a humorous metaphor for physical bulk.
“He had developed quite a corporation after years of eating rich food.”
“The old gentleman patted his impressive corporation with a look of deep satisfaction after the three-course meal.”
Humorous · Slang · Archaic
Teaching tip
This sense is very rare in modern speech and is mostly found in older literature or used by older speakers for comedic effect.
Synonyms
Real-World Examples
“Hundreds of backbench MPs were also wined and dined by corporations, including Google and Diageo, the drinks company.” “Governments and corporations sell bonds - essentially an IOU - to raise money for spending, and in return they pay interest.” “Clean Core Research is a Canadian not-for-profit corporation.” Etymology
From Middle English corporacion, corporation, from Late Latin corporatio (“assumption of a body”), from Latin corporatus, past participle of corporare (“to form into a body”); see corporate. (protruding belly): Perhaps a play on the word corpulence.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Collocations
Related words
Idioms
corporation pop — Water, specifically drinking water supplied by a public utility company.
Domains
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/corporation