The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Body \Bod"y\, n.; pl. Bodies. [OE. bodi, AS. bodig; akin to
   OHG. botah. [root]257. Cf. Bodice.]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. The material organized substance of an animal, whether
      living or dead, as distinguished from the spirit, or vital
      principle; the physical person.
      [1913 Webster]

            Absent in body, but present in spirit. --1 Cor. v. 3
      [1913 Webster]

            For of the soul the body form doth take.
            For soul is form, and doth the body make. --Spenser.
      [1913 Webster]

   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.
      [1913 Webster]

            Who set the body and the limbs
            Of this great sport together?         --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

            The van of the king's army was led by the general; .
            . . in the body was the king and the prince.
                                                  --Clarendon.
      [1913 Webster]

            Rivers that run up into the body of Italy.
                                                  --Addison.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. The real, as opposed to the symbolical; the substance, as
      opposed to the shadow.
      [1913 Webster]

            Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body
            is of Christ.                         --Col. ii. 17.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. A person; a human being; -- frequently in composition; as,
      anybody, nobody.
      [1913 Webster]

            A dry, shrewd kind of a body.         --W. Irving.
      [1913 Webster]

   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.
      [1913 Webster]

            A numerous body led unresistingly to the slaughter.
                                                  --Prescott.
      [1913 Webster]

   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.
      [1913 Webster]

   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.
      [1913 Webster]

            By collision of two bodies, grind
            The air attrite to fire.              --Milton.
      [1913 Webster]

   8. Amount; quantity; extent.
      [1913 Webster]

   9. That part of a garment covering the body, as distinguished
      from the parts covering the limbs.
      [1913 Webster]

   10. The bed or box of a vehicle, on or in which the load is
       placed; as, a wagon body; a cart body.
       [1913 Webster]

   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.
       [1913 Webster]

   12. (Geom.) A figure that has length, breadth, and thickness;
       any solid figure.
       [1913 Webster]

   13. Consistency; thickness; substance; strength; as, this
       color has body; wine of a good body.
       [1913 Webster]

   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.
         [1913 Webster]

   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.
       [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

   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 (Zool.), 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.
      [1913 Webster]

            As to the persons who compose the body politic or
            associate themselves, they take collectively the
            name of "people", or "nation".        --Bouvier.
      [1913 Webster]

   Body servant, a valet.

   The bodies seven (Alchemy), the metals corresponding to the
      planets. [Obs.]
      [1913 Webster]

            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.
      [1913 Webster]

   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.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

body politic
    n 1: a politically organized body of people under a single
         government; "the state has elected a new president";
         "African nations"; "students who had come to the nation's
         capitol"; "the country's largest manufacturer"; "an
         industrialized land" [syn: state, nation, country,
         land, commonwealth, res publica, body politic]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

79 Moby Thesaurus words for "body politic":
   Everyman, John Doe, Public, ally, archduchy, archdukedom,
   buffer state, captive nation, chieftaincy, chieftainry, citizenry,
   city-state, colony, common man, commonweal, commonwealth,
   community, community at large, country, county, domain, dominion,
   duchy, dukedom, earldom, empery, empire, estate, everybody,
   everyman, everyone, everywoman, folk, folks, free city,
   general public, gentry, grand duchy, kingdom, land, mandant,
   mandate, mandated territory, mandatee, mandatory, men, nation,
   nationality, people, people in general, persons, polis, polity,
   populace, population, possession, power, principality, principate,
   protectorate, province, public, puppet government, puppet regime,
   realm, republic, satellite, seneschalty, settlement, society,
   sovereign nation, state, sultanate, superpower, territory,
   toparchia, toparchy, world, you and me



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

BODY POLITIC, government, corporations. When applied to the government this
phrase signifies the state.
     2. As to the persons who compose the body politic, they take
collectively the name, of people, or nation; and individually they are
citizens, when considered in relation to their political rights, and
subjects as being submitted to the laws of the state.
     3. When it refers to corporations, the term body politic means that the
members of such corporations shall be considered as an artificial person.