*kwrep-

late 14c., "material, physical; secular;" c. 1400, "of or belonging to the body;" from Old French corporal (12c., Modern French corporel) "of the body, physical, strong" and directly from Latin corporalis "pertaining to the body," from corpus (genitive corporis) "body" (from PIE root *kwrep- "body, form, appearance").

Corporal punishment "punishment of the body" (as opposed to fine or loss of rank or privilege) is from 1580s. Related: Corporality.

early 15c., "united in one body, constituted as a legal corporation," as a number of individuals empowered to do business as an individual, in early use often of municipalities, from Latin corporatus, past participle of corporare "make or fashion into a body, furnish with a body," also "to make into a corpse, kill," from corpus (genitive corporis) "body" (from PIE root *kwrep- "body, form, appearance"). The past participle, corporatus, also was used as a noun meaning "member of a corporation."

In reference to any body of persons united in a community from c. 1600. Related: Corporately; corporateness.