Masculine
Körper
Sentences
Meaning
- (masculine,strong) body (of a person, animal, etc.)
- (masculine,strong) body
- (masculine,strong) body, solid (three-dimensional object)
- (masculine,strong) field (algebraic structure with addition and multiplication)
Concepts
geometric body
solid body
main part
counter for humanoid forms
human body
organic structure
physical structure
dead body
Synonyms
Tierleiche
Rohbau
Flugzeugrumpf
fester Körper
menschlicher Körper
Hubschrauberrumpf
dreidimensionale Form
Karkasse
geschlachtetes Tier
Frequency
Hyphenated as
Kör‧per
Pronounced as (IPA)
/ˈkœrpər/
Etymology
In summary
From Middle High German korper, körper, körpel, from Latin corpor-, inflected stem of corpus. The word displaced first the predecessor of German Leiche, Leichnam (now “corpse”) and later on Leib (now dated, literary, religious). Doublet of Korpus, Korps. The umlaut remained rare until the 16th century. Its derivation from the -i- in Latin corporis, corpori seems unlikely in such a late borrowing. Probably the dissimilated variant körpel received the umlaut by analogy with diminutives in -el. Some Central German dialects show secondary umlaut before -r- + labial (see Hunsrik Kerrper, Kerrver and Luxembourgish Kierper), but precisely these dialects make little or no use of this word. See English corpse for more.
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Notes