Body politic
(redirected from Body-politic)Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Encyclopedia.
BODY POLITIC, government, corporations. When applied to the government this
phrase signifies the state.
2. As to the persons who compose the body politic, they take
collectively the name, of people, or nation; and individually they are
citizens, when considered in relation to their political rights, and
subjects as being submitted to the laws of the state.
3. When it refers to corporations, the term body politic means that the
members of such corporations shall be considered as an artificial person.
A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States. By John Bouvier. Published 1856.