A noun denoting physical decomposition—the rotting of organic matter, especially a human corpse in the grave. All six New Testament occurrences cluster in Acts, where Peter and Paul both quote Psalm 16:10 ('You will not let your Holy One see corruption') to argue for Christ's resurrection. Peter's Pentecost sermon contrasts David, whose body did see decay, with Jesus, whose flesh was preserved from decomposition (Acts 2:27, 31). Paul's sermon in Pisidian Antioch makes the same argument: God raised Jesus before his body could undergo diaphthora, whereas David 'fell asleep, was laid with his fathers, and saw corruption' (Acts 13:34-37). The word thus becomes a technical term in early Christian apologetics for bodily resurrection. Spanish 'corrupción' and French 'corruption' both derive from Latin corruptio, preserving the same concrete sense of organic decay.