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Body of a church

Body \Bod"y\, n.; pl. Bodies. [OE. bodi, AS. bodig; akin to OHG. botah. [root]257. Cf. Bodice.]

  1. The material organized substance of an animal, whether living or dead, as distinguished from the spirit, or vital principle; the physical person.

    Absent in body, but present in spirit.
    --1 Cor. v. 3

    For of the soul the body form doth take. For soul is form, and doth the body make.
    --Spenser.

  2. The trunk, or main part, of a person or animal, as distinguished from the limbs and head; the main, central, or principal part, as of a tree, army, country, etc.

    Who set the body and the limbs Of this great sport together?
    --Shak.

    The van of the king's army was led by the general; . . . in the body was the king and the prince.
    --Clarendon.

    Rivers that run up into the body of Italy.
    --Addison.

  3. The real, as opposed to the symbolical; the substance, as opposed to the shadow.

    Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
    --Col. ii. 17.

  4. A person; a human being; -- frequently in composition; as, anybody, nobody.

    A dry, shrewd kind of a body.
    --W. Irving.

  5. A number of individuals spoken of collectively, usually as united by some common tie, or as organized for some purpose; a collective whole or totality; a corporation; as, a legislative body; a clerical body.

    A numerous body led unresistingly to the slaughter.
    --Prescott.

  6. A number of things or particulars embodied in a system; a general collection; as, a great body of facts; a body of laws or of divinity.

  7. Any mass or portion of matter; any substance distinct from others; as, a metallic body; a moving body; an a["e]riform body. ``A body of cold air.''
    --Huxley.

    By collision of two bodies, grind The air attrite to fire.
    --Milton.

  8. Amount; quantity; extent.

  9. That part of a garment covering the body, as distinguished from the parts covering the limbs.

  10. The bed or box of a vehicle, on or in which the load is placed; as, a wagon body; a cart body.

  11. (Print.) The shank of a type, or the depth of the shank (by which the size is indicated); as, a nonpareil face on an agate body.

  12. (Geom.) A figure that has length, breadth, and thickness; any solid figure.

  13. Consistency; thickness; substance; strength; as, this color has body; wine of a good body.

    Note: Colors bear a body when they are capable of being ground so fine, and of being mixed so entirely with oil, as to seem only a very thick oil of the same color.

  14. (A["e]ronautics) The central, longitudinal framework of a flying machine, to which are attached the planes or a["e]rocurves, passenger accommodations, controlling and propelling apparatus, fuel tanks, etc. Also called fuselage. After body (Naut.), the part of a ship abaft the dead flat. Body cavity (Anat.), the space between the walls of the body and the inclosed viscera; the c[ae]lum; -- in mammals, divided by the diaphragm into thoracic and abdominal cavities. Body of a church, the nave. Body cloth; pl. Body cloths, a cloth or blanket for covering horses. Body clothes. (pl.)

    1. Clothing for the body; esp. underclothing.

    2. Body cloths for horses. [Obs.]
      --Addison.

      Body coat, a gentleman's dress coat.

      Body color (Paint.), a pigment that has consistency, thickness, or body, in distinction from a tint or wash.

      Body of a law (Law), the main and operative part.

      Body louse (Zo["o]l.), a species of louse ( Pediculus vestimenti), which sometimes infests the human body and clothes. See Grayback.

      Body plan (Shipbuilding), an end elevation, showing the conbour of the sides of a ship at certain points of her length.

      Body politic, the collective body of a nation or state as politically organized, or as exercising political functions; also, a corporation.
      --Wharton.

      As to the persons who compose the body politic or associate themselves, they take collectively the name of ``people'', or ``nation''.
      --Bouvier.

      Body servant, a valet.

      The bodies seven (Alchemy), the metals corresponding to the planets. [Obs.]

      Sol gold is, and Luna silver we threpe (=call), Mars yren (=iron), Mercurie quicksilver we clepe, Saturnus lead, and Jupiter is tin, and Venus coper.
      --Chaucer.

      Body snatcher, one who secretly removes without right or authority a dead body from a grave, vault, etc.; a resurrectionist.

      Body snatching (Law), the unauthorized removal of a dead body from the grave; usually for the purpose of dissection.