I. ˈbäd ə lē, -də̇lē, -li adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from body + -ly
1. : having a body or a material form : physical , corporeal
a ghostlike figure with bodily form
2.
a. : of or relating to the body
bodily comfort
b. : concerning the body
bodily fear
3. obsolete : actual , realized
Synonyms:
physical , corporeal , corporal , somatic : these words agree in referring to the human body and differ so little that they are often interchangeable. bodily contrasts with mental or spiritual
bodily illness is more easy to bear than mental — Charles Dickens
if from any bodily or mental defect the eldest son is disqualified for ruling — J.G.Frazer
physical , in this sense, may be somewhat milder and less explicit than bodily
even if he dreads no physical betrayal, he suffers from terror and morbid sensitiveness at every hint of mental estrangement — George Santayana
her emotional breakdown had probably more to do with physical exhaustion than with any eloquence of his — A.T.Quiller-Couch
corporeal stresses substance and may contrast either with spiritual or with immaterial
the spiritual life commences where the corporeal existence terminates — J.G.Frazer
we saw … the woman, with a corporeal body as real at that moment as our own, pass in through the interstice — Bram Stoker
corporal , now less common in these uses than the others, is likely to refer to things which affect the body unpleasantly
corporal punishment
In some contexts as “ corporal works of mercy” it contrasts with spiritual. somatic , meaning of or relating to the body, is almost entirely scientific in suggestion
language is produced through the action of definite body parts and is thus a somatic function — Psychoanalytic Review
II. adverb
Etymology: Middle English, from bodily, adjective
1. : in the body : in the flesh : in person
the Savior walking bodily among men
2. : as a body : as a whole : altogether , entirely
the first of 160 homes to be moved bodily from this village — New York Times