Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

Corporation in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels corporation as noun. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913noun
Corporation

[L. corporatio incarnation: cf. F. corporation corporation.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordcorporation
Part of speechnoun
Historical etymology[L. corporatio incarnation: cf. F. corporation corporation.]
Selected historical definitionA 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.
Signed record IDwebster1913-corporation-noun-3579faa1a470
Source locatorCIDE.C, paragraph 18032; Gutenberg eBook 661
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 661Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "corporation" is labeled noun. Its etymology is recorded as: "[L. corporatio incarnation: cf. F. corporation corporation.]" The selected historical definition says: "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."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-10-04

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

More released C records

Every card owns a different source record and historical sense.

noun

Company

[F. compagnie, fr. OF. compaing. See Companion.]

Webster 1913 exact recordnoun

Care

[AS. caru, cearu; akin to OS. kara sorrow, Goth. kara, OHG chara, lament, and perh. to Gr. gh^rys voice. Not akin to cure. Cf. Chary.]

Webster 1913 exact recordnoun

Change

[F. change, fr. changer. See Change. v. t.]

Webster 1913 exact recordnoun

Came

[Cf. Scot. came, caim, comb, and OE. camet silver.]

Webster 1913 exact recordnoun

Course

[F. cours, course, L. cursus, fr. currere to run. See Current.]

Webster 1913 exact record

Browse released C records - browse all historical records.