Inkorporation

Inkorporation is a term used primarily in German-speaking contexts to denote the act or process of incorporating something into a larger whole. In practice, it can refer to the formation of a legal entity as well as the inclusion of people, ideas, or elements into institutions or systems.

In corporate law, Inkorporation describes the process of establishing a corporation, including filing articles of incorporation, appointing directors, and meeting statutory capital requirements. In German law, the term is often used alongside or interchangeably with Gründung, though some writers reserve Inkorporation for the formal chartering of a business entity such as a GmbH or AG.

In social and political contexts, Inkorporation denotes integration of individuals or groups into a society, organization, or economy. It emphasizes inclusion within institutions and rights, and is used in discussions of immigrant incorporation, labor market inclusion, or the incorporation of peripheral regions into a nation.

In linguistics, Inkorporation describes a grammatical process by which a word, typically a noun, is incorporated into a verb to form a complex predicate, common in certain language families. This use is distinct from social or corporate meanings.

Etymology and usage: from Latin incorporare, through French or German adoption; in modern German it appears mainly in formal or technical writing. Related terms include Integration, Eingliederung, Aufnahme, and in English, incorporation or to incorporate.

See also: incorporation, corporate incorporation, linguistic incorporation, and related topics in law, sociology, and linguistics.