esprit de corps

English

WOTD – 3 March 2009

Etymology

Borrowed from French esprit de corps, from esprit (“spirit”) + de (“of”) + corps (“body”)

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɛˌspɹiː də ˈkɔː/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ɛˌspɹi də ˈkɔɹ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

esprit de corps (uncountable)

1. (idiomatic) A shared spirit of comradeship, enthusiasm, and devotion to a cause among the members of a group, for example of a military unit.
   • 1922 February, James Joyce, “[chapter V]”, in Ulysses, London: The Egoist Press, published October 1922, OCLC 2297483:

     Always happening like that. The very moment. Girl in Eustace street hallway Monday was it settling her garter. Her friend covering the display of. Esprit de corps. Well, what are you gaping at?

Synonyms

• (shared spirit): morale, team spirit

Translations

shared spirit of comradeship, enthusiasm, and devotion

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 團結精神, 团结精神 (tuánjié jīngshén), 集體精神, 集体精神 (jítǐ jīngshén)

• Czech: pocit sounáležitosti m
• Danish: korpsånd c
• Finnish: yhteishenki
• French: esprit de corps (fr) m

• Indonesian: jiwa korsa
• Malay: esprit de corps
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kampånd m

• Polish: poczucie solidarności
• Portuguese: espírito de equipe m
• Russian: кома́ндный дух m (komándnyj dux)
• Swedish: kåranda c

References

• “esprit” in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛs.pʁi d(ə) kɔʁ/

• Audio (CAN)

  (file)

Noun

esprit de corps m (uncountable)

1. esprit de corps, spirit of the group, common spirit

See also

• esprit de clocher
• esprit d'équipe