from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Corporation \Cor`po*ra"tion\ (k[^o]r`p[-o]*r[=a]"sh[u^]n), n.
[L. corporatio incarnation: cf. F. corporation corporation.]
A body politic or corporate, formed and authorized by law to
act as a single person, and endowed by law with the capacity
of succession; a society having the capacity of transacting
business as an individual.
[1913 Webster]
Note: Corporations are aggregate or sole. {Corporations
aggregate} consist of two or more persons united in a
society, which is preserved by a succession of members,
either forever or till the corporation is dissolved by
the power that formed it, by the death of all its
members, by surrender of its charter or franchises, or
by forfeiture. Such corporations are the mayor and
aldermen of cities, the head and fellows of a college,
the dean and chapter of a cathedral church, the
stockholders of a bank or insurance company, etc. A
{corporation sole} consists of a single person, who is
made a body corporate and politic, in order to give him
some legal capacities, and especially that of
succession, which as a natural person he can not have.
Kings, bishops, deans, parsons, and vicars, are in
England sole corporations. A fee will not pass to a
corporation sole without the word "successors" in the
grant. There are instances in the United States of a
minister of a parish seized of parsonage lands in the
right of his parish, being a corporation sole, as in
Massachusetts. Corporations are sometimes classified as
public and private; public being convertible with
municipal, and {private corporations} being all
corporations not municipal.
[1913 Webster]
{Close corporation}. See under {Close}.
[1913 Webster]
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Close \Close\ (kl[=o]s), a. [Compar. {Closer} (kl[=o]"s[~e]r);
superl. {Closest}.] [Of. & F. clos, p. p. of clore. See
{Close}, v. t.]
1. Shut fast; closed; tight; as, a close box.
[1913 Webster]
From a close bower this dainty music flowed.
--Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
2. Narrow; confined; as, a close alley; close quarters. "A
close prison." --Dickens.
[1913 Webster]
3. Oppressive; without motion or ventilation; causing a
feeling of lassitude; -- said of the air, weather, etc.
[1913 Webster]
If the rooms be low-roofed, or full of windows and
doors, the one maketh the air close, . . . and the
other maketh it exceeding unequal. --Bacon.
[1913 Webster]
4. Strictly confined; carefully quarded; as, a close
prisoner.
[1913 Webster]
5. Out of the way observation; secluded; secret; hidden. "He
yet kept himself close because of Saul." --1 Chron. xii. 1
[1913 Webster]
"Her close intent." --Spenser.
[1913 Webster]
6. Disposed to keep secrets; secretive; reticent. "For
secrecy, no lady closer." --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
7. Having the parts near each other; dense; solid; compact;
as applied to bodies; viscous; tenacious; not volatile, as
applied to liquids.
[1913 Webster]
The golden globe being put into a press, . . . the
water made itself way through the pores of that very
close metal. --Locke.
[1913 Webster]
8. Concise; to the point; as, close reasoning. "Where the
original is close no version can reach it in the same
compass." --Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
9. Adjoining; near; either in space; time, or thought; --
often followed by to.
[1913 Webster]
Plant the spring crocuses close to a wall.
--Mortimer.
[1913 Webster]
The thought of the Man of sorrows seemed a very
close thing -- not a faint hearsay. --G. Eliot.
[1913 Webster]
10. Short; as, to cut grass or hair close.
[1913 Webster]
11. Intimate; familiar; confidential.
[1913 Webster]
League with you I seek
And mutual amity, so strait, so close,
That I with you must dwell, or you with me.
--Milton.
[1913 Webster]
12. Nearly equal; almost evenly balanced; as, a close vote.
"A close contest." --Prescott.
[1913 Webster]
13. Difficult to obtain; as, money is close. --Bartlett.
[1913 Webster]
14. Parsimonious; stingy. "A crusty old fellow, as close as a
vise." --Hawthorne.
[1913 Webster]
15. Adhering strictly to a standard or original; exact;
strict; as, a close translation. --Locke.
[1913 Webster]
16. Accurate; careful; precise; also, attentive; undeviating;
strict; not wandering; as, a close observer.
[1913 Webster]
17. (Phon.) Uttered with a relatively contracted opening of
the mouth, as certain sounds of e and o in French,
Italian, and German; -- opposed to open.
[1913 Webster]
{Close borough}. See under {Borough}.
{Close breeding}. See under {Breeding}.
{Close communion}, communion in the Lord's supper, restricted
to those who have received baptism by immersion.
{Close corporation}, a body or corporation which fills its
own vacancies.
{Close fertilization}. (Bot.) See {Fertilization}.
{Close harmony} (Mus.), compact harmony, in which the tones
composing each chord are not widely distributed over
several octaves.
{Close time}, a fixed period during which killing game or
catching certain fish is prohibited by law.
{Close vowel} (Pron.), a vowel which is pronounced with a
diminished aperture of the lips, or with contraction of
the cavity of the mouth.
{Close to the wind} (Naut.), directed as nearly to the point
from which the wind blows as it is possible to sail;
closehauled; -- said of a vessel.
[1913 Webster]