The term
corporation refers to different kinds of student organizations worldwide. Generally, universities in the various European countries have student organizations called corporations. The name is derived from the Latin
corporatio meaning a body or group. There was an earlier type of student organization, called a
nation from the
Middle Ages, where students from all over Europe at a particular university would unite according to national (actually regional) lines. Today, many student organizations in
Sweden,
Finland, and, to a lesser degree,
Scotland are still termed nations, while most of the rest of European universities, the organizations are considered corporations.