corpse

the word 'corpse' originates from the latin 'corpus', meaning "body." this latin term is itself traced back to the proto-indo-european root krep-, meaning "body" or "form." entering english through the old french 'cors', the word initially referred to a living or dead body. by the 14th century, its meaning specialized to refer exclusively to a dead body, particularly a human one, a semantic narrowing that distinguished it from the living 'body'. the silent 'p' in the spelling was reintroduced during the renaissance to align the word with its latin ancestor, creating the modern form 'corpse'.

the word 'corpse' is a simplex form. it is derived from the latin word 'corpus' (body), which came into english via old french 'cors'. the final 'p' became silent in english pronunciation, but the spelling was later altered to reflect the latin origin.