- incorporate (v.)
- late 14c., "to put (something) into the body or substance of (something else), blend; absorb, eat," also "solidify, harden," often in medical writing, from Late Latin incorporatus, past participle of incorporare "unite into one body, embody, include," from Latin in- "into, in, on, upon" (see in- (2)) + verb from corpus (genitive corporis) "body" (see corporeal).
Meaning "to legally form a body politic with perpetual succession and power to act as one person, establish as a legal corporation" is from mid-15c. Intransitive sense of "unite with another body so as to become part of it" is from 1590s. Related: Incorporated; incorporating.
