Interesting choice of words, as many people do not know that until the Industrial Revolution was firmly in place, (latter first quarter of the 19th century,) the word "corporation" do not refer to business and commerce but to institutions, i.e. Harvard, Dartmouth and what we today would refer to as charities (Red Cross, ASPCA, etc.)various societies (Elks, Women's Temperance League, etc.)
Business/commerce did not so much hi-jack the word "corporation" as it just sort of slipped into it on little cat's-feet.
There were commercial corporations before the industrial revolution. The East India Company, Hudson's Bay Company, etc. Also, some of the American colonies were chartered as profit-making companies. But in the old days, it took a specific act of the sovereign to charter a corporation. It became easy later on. I think Delaware was the first state to make it a matter of routine.