Corporeities

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The qualities or characteristics associated with having a physical body
2. the aspects of existence that are tangible and material in nature
3. the state of being characterized by a corporeal form that differentiates the physical from the abstract

Etymology: Corporeity is the abstract noun behind the adjective "corporeal," and its roots are simply the Latin word for body. Latin "corpus" meant "body," and "corporeus" meant "of the body" or "bodily," so the noun traces back to the idea of having a body at all. The form came into English from French "corporéité" or from Medieval Latin "corporeitas," both coined to name the quality of being bodily. The plural "corporeities" is the form of that noun used when more than one instance or kind of bodily existence is meant, such as different physical forms or embodiments of a thing. The word's meaning sets physical bodily form against abstract ideas, so its history is a matter of the Latin body-word being turned into a term for that contrast.