Meanings
- idiomaticuncountableA shared spirit of comradeship, enthusiasm, and devotion to a cause among the members of a group, for example of a military unit.
Also, much depended on an exceptional esprit de corps which permeated the whole staff, and achieved miracles of promptitude in such details as engine-changing and the marshalling of trains.
1946 May and June, J. Alan Rannie, “The Midland of 35 Years Ago”, in Railway Magazine, page 1352 more examples
“Well done, sister! I honour your esprit du corps^([sic]). When I am a wife, I mean to be just as staunch myself; and I wish my friends in general would be so too. It would save me many a heartache.”
1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter V, in Mansfield Park: […], volume I, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 94Always 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?
1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 5: Lotus Eaters]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey], page 71Synonyms: morale, team spirit, spirit
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA shared spirit of comradeship, enthusiasm, and devotion to a cause among the members of a group, for example of a military unit.
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe spirit of a group that makes the members want the group to succeed
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Frenchesprit de corps
- Englishesprit de corps
Unadapted borrowing from French esprit de corps, from esprit (“spirit”) + de (“of”) + corps (“body”).
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 團結精神 /团结精神, 集體精神 /集体精神
- 團結精神 /团结精神 (tuánjié jīngshén)shared spirit of comradeship, enthusiasm, and devotion — see also team spirit
- 集體精神 /集体精神 (jítǐ jīngshén)shared spirit of comradeship, enthusiasm, and devotion — see also team spirit
Czech pocit sounáležitosti
- pocit sounáležitostishared spirit of comradeship, enthusiasm, and devotion — see also team spirit
Danish korpsånd
- korpsåndshared spirit of comradeship, enthusiasm, and devotion — see also team spirit
Finnish yhteishenki
- yhteishenkishared spirit of comradeship, enthusiasm, and devotion — see also team spirit
French esprit de corps
- esprit de corpsshared spirit of comradeship, enthusiasm, and devotion — see also team spirit
Hebrew גאוות יחידה
- גאוות יחידהshared spirit of comradeship, enthusiasm, and devotion — see also team spirit
Indonesian jiwa korsa, esprit de corps
- jiwa korsashared spirit of comradeship, enthusiasm, and devotion — see also team spirit
- esprit de corpsshared spirit of comradeship, enthusiasm, and devotion — see also team spirit
Malay esprit de corps
- esprit de corpsshared spirit of comradeship, enthusiasm, and devotion — see also team spirit
Norwegian Bokmål kampånd
- kampåndshared spirit of comradeship, enthusiasm, and devotion — see also team spirit
Polish poczucie solidarności
- poczucie solidarnościshared spirit of comradeship, enthusiasm, and devotion — see also team spirit
Portuguese espírito de equipe
- espírito de equipeshared spirit of comradeship, enthusiasm, and devotion — see also team spirit
Russian кома́ндный дух
- кома́ндный дух (komándnyj dux)shared spirit of comradeship, enthusiasm, and devotion — see also team spirit
Spanish espíritu de cuerpo
- espíritu de cuerposhared spirit of comradeship, enthusiasm, and devotion — see also team spirit
Swedish kåranda
- kårandashared spirit of comradeship, enthusiasm, and devotion — see also team spirit
Cite this entry
esprit de corps. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/esprit%20de%20corps
“esprit de corps.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/esprit%20de%20corps. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “esprit de corps,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/esprit%20de%20corps.
Source: esprit de corps on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.