Corpus
[Latin, Body, aggregate, or mass.]
Corpus might be used to mean a human body, or a body or group of laws. The term is used often in Civil Law to denote a substantial or positive fact, as opposed to one that is ambiguous. The corpus of a trust is the sum of money or property that is set aside to produce income for a named beneficiary. In the law of estates, the corpus of an estate is the amount of property left when an individual dies. Corpus juris means a body of law or a body of the law. Corpus Juris Secundum (C.J.S.®) is an all-inclusive, multivolume legal encyclopedia.
West's Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
corpus
n. 1) Latin for body. 2) the principal (usually money, securities, and other assets) of a trust or estate as distinguished from interest or profits.
Copyright © 1981-2005 by Gerald N. Hill and Kathleen T. Hill. All Right reserved.
CORPUS. A Latin word, which signifies body; as, corpus delicti, the body of the offence, the essence of the crime; corpus juris canonis, the body of the canon law; corpus juris civilis, the body of the Civil law.
A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States. By John Bouvier. Published 1856.
