> A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law 'born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and recognized as such in law for certain purposes.[1]:10 Early incorporated entities were established by charter (i.e. by an ad hoc act granted by a monarch or passed by a parliament or legislature).
Webster's 1913:
> A body politic or corporate, formed and authorized by law to act as a single person, and endowed by law with the capacity of succession; a society having the capacity of transacting business as an individual.
Modern Merriam-Webster's retains essentially the same definition.
That's why I hold that position about their relationship with the rest of society, and in particular with their parent government. I'll grant some other kind of organization, not being definitionally a creation of government, may not have the same relationship.