2024年5月15日发(作者：win7主题下载官方)

Company 与Corporation的区别

此两词均可作“公司”解。通说认为“company”乃英国英语,而美国英语则用

“corporation”公司。引自美国人写、在美国出版、讲美国法律的专著的下列句子——

1.

/ Your federal trademark application must be made to the Commissioner of

Patents in Washington, D.C. / It should include your name, home address,

citizenship and the location of your company （or those of a corporation if you

have formed one to sell your product）.

——You and the Law, the Reader’s Digest Association. Inc. 1980, p. 193

上列句中圆括弧内的“corporation”与圆括弧外的“company”显然是不同的概

念、具有不同的含义（而决非都指“公司”这一概念）。试想一位因任务紧迫而信笔译来的

译者已逐词把“company”译做“公司”于先,则随后恋皆怖ɑ±锏摹癱orporation“又

如何译才好呢？

其实,句子的“company”并非“公司”,“商行”是也。有书为证：

2.

Company, a flexible term. （1）A corporation. （2）An unincorporated

association organized for commercial purposes.

——Cochran’s Law Lexicon. 1977, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number:

72—95860

最后,必须指出：即使是美国英语,“corporation”也未“公司”而已。此词还可以有

一个较“公司”更广的内涵——“法人”。请看：

3.

Corporation, an artificial person[法人]composed of individuals. It usually has a

corporate name and perpetual duration. Sometimes its duration is a fixed term of

years. It substitutes for the individuals who compose it. See also Municipal

Corporation

——Ibid

附带提一句：就上列有关词义而论,不妨说“company”与“corporation”是一对反

义词——你说是吗？是的,你会说,因为“company”是unincorporated的,而

“corporation”则是incorporated的。再说,如果要把“公司法”译成英语,得根据情况

分别译作“corporate law”（以美国英语读者为对象）或“company law”（以英国英

语读者为对象）。但美国英语中,“公司法”偶尔也有作“corporation law”的：

4.

The usual term in the U.S. for the law of corporations is corporate law. The

equivalent in G.B. is company law. Corporation law is a variant phrase occasionally

used.