body
UK /ˈbɒdi/ · US /ˈbɑdi/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms bodies bodying bodied the Body bodie
- noun (countable) The physical structure of a human or animal seen as one single organism. “I saw them walking from a distance, their bodies strangely angular in the dawn light.”
- noun The fleshly or corporeal nature of a human, as opposed to the spirit or soul. “The body is driven by desires, but the soul is at peace.”
- noun (countable) A corpse. “Her body was found at four o’clock, just two hours after the murder.”
- noun (slang, African-American Vernacular) A murder. “His gun had two bodies on it.”
- noun (archaic or informal except in compounds) A person. “Indeed, if it belonged to a poor body, it would be another thing; but so great a lady, to be sure, can never want it […]”
- noun (sociology) A human being, regarded as marginalized or oppressed.
- noun The torso, the main structure of a human or animal frame excluding the extremities (limbs, head, tail). “The boxer took a blow to the body.”
- noun The largest or most important part of anything, as distinct from its appendages or accessories; (of vehicles, sometimes) the outer shell (as contrasted with the frame and powertrain). “The bumpers and front tyres were ruined, but the body of the car was in remarkable shape.”
- verb (transitive, often with forth) To give body or shape to something.
- verb To construct the bodywork of a car.
- verb (transitive) To embody.
- verb (transitive, slang, African-American Vernacular) To murder someone.
- verb (by extension) To utterly defeat someone.
- proper noun A surname transferred from the nickname.
- proper noun (Cambridge University slang, archaic) Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.
Synonyms
tabernacle bod bones flesh carcass likam quarrons soma organic structure physical structure dead body torso trunk consistency consistence eubstance soundbox personify
Etymology
From Middle English body, bodi, bodiȝ, from Old English bodiġ, bodeġ (“body, trunk, chest, torso, height, stature”), from Proto-West Germanic *bodag (“body, trunk”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewdʰ- (“to be awake, observe”). Cognate with Old High German botah (“body, corpse, trunk, torso”) (whence Swabian Bottich (“body, torso”), Bavarian Bottich (“body, torso, carcass; lower part of a shirt or jacket”)).
* As an English surname, from Middle English body, probably a nickname for a corpulent person; and occupational surname from Middle English bode (“messenger”) + -y (diminutive ending). Equivalent to bode (“messenger, herald”) + -y.
* As a French surname, variant of Bodin.
* As a Hungarian surname Bódy, variant of Bódi, Bodi.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The material organized substance of an animal, whether living or dead, as distinguished from the spirit, or vital principle; the physical person.
- noun The trunk, or main part, of a person or animal, as distinguished from the limbs and head; the main, central, or principal part, as of a tree, army, country, etc. Who set the body and the limbs Of this great sport together Shak.
- verb To furnish with, or as with, a body; to produce in definite shape; to embody. To body forth, to give from or shape to mentally.
Etymology [OE. bodi, AS. bodig; akin to OHG. botah. sq. root257. Cf. Bodice.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “body”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details