Origin: Latin suffix -tion
Corporation has 3 different meanings across 1 category:
a business firm whose articles of incorporation have been approved in some state
"After years of planning, the startup finally became a corporation once its legal documents were approved by the state government."
slang for a paunch
"After three beers and two slices of pizza, he looked more like a corporation than a man."
A body corporate, created by law or under authority of law, having a continuous existence independent of the existences of its members, and powers and liabilities distinct from those of its members.
"The new tax laws apply strictly to the corporation as a separate legal entity, regardless of how much money the individual shareholders contributed personally."
In plain English: A corporation is a business owned by many people that acts like a single person under the law.
"The corporation announced its new expansion plans for the upcoming year."
Usage: Use "corporation" to refer to a legal entity formed by state or federal law that operates as a single business unit with rights separate from its owners. Do not use it to describe a specific group of people gathering for a meeting or a general organization without formal corporate status.
The word corporation comes from the Late Latin term for "the assumption of a body," which originally described forming something into a physical mass. It entered Middle English to refer to a legal entity treated as a single living body, much like a human person.