Incorporacioun

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The joining of separate parts or persons into a single whole ; the creation of a formal association granted legal status as one body
2. The act of merging distinct elements into one unified entity ; the establishment of a group recognized by law as a single corporation
3. Blending several things so they become one body ; the process by which a company or guild is formally given a legal identity

Etymology: The Latin verb "incorporare" meant "to embody," literally "to put into a body," from "in-" plus "corpus," meaning "body." Its noun, "incorporatio," passed into Old French as "incorporacion," and English took it over in the Middle English period. This spelling, with the "-oun" ending, is the medieval form of that French borrowing. The word's core idea is joining separate parts into one body. The same root gives English "corporal" (of the body) and "corps," a body of people organized together. The medieval sense stayed close to the Latin, so the word described the act of making something into a single body rather than a legal entity.