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Definition of corporal noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

corporal

noun
 
/ˈkɔːpərəl/
 
/ˈkɔːrpərəl/
(abbreviation Cpl)
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  1. a member of one of the lower ranks in the army, the marines or the British air force
    • Corporal Smith
    see also lance corporal, master corporalTopics War and conflictc2
    Word Originmid 16th cent.: from French, obsolete variant of caporal, from Italian caporale, probably based on Latin corpus, corpor- ‘body (of troops)’, with a change of spelling in Italian due to association with capo ‘head’.
See corporal in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
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