/kawr"peuhs di lik"tuy/ , pl. corpora delicti /kawr"peuhr euh di lik"tuy/ . Law.
1. the basic element or fact of a crime, as, in murder, the death of the murdered person.
2. the object, as the body of a murdered person, upon which a crime has been committed and that serves as evidence proving that the crime was committed.
[ 1825-35; ]