Incorporeity

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The state or quality of existing as a non-physical or disembodied entity, lacking material substance or tangible form
2. The characteristic of having no physical body or material existence, existing only in a spiritual or abstract sense
3. The property of being immaterial and non-corporeal, without the physical matter or presence that defines bodily things

Etymology: Built from the Latin word for body, this term describes the absence of one. "Corpus" meant a physical body, and English took it up in "corporeal," meaning bodily. Adding the Latin prefix "in-," meaning "not," gave "incorporeal," meaning having no material form. The noun is the adjective plus the suffix "-ity," the same ending that turns "personal" into "personality." That suffix makes the quality itself into a thing that can be discussed, so the word names the condition of being without a body or physical substance.

Synonyms: immateriality, incorporeality

Antonyms: corporeality, materiality