muscle

English

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muscle

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Middle English muscle, muscule, muskylle, and in part from Middle French muscle, from Latin mūsculus (“a muscle”, literally “little mouse”) because of the mouselike appearance of some muscles, from mūs (“mouse”). Doublet of mussel. More at mouse.

Pronunciation

• enPR: mŭʹsəl, IPA^(key): /ˈmʌ.səl/, /ˈmʌ.sl̩/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌsəl
• Homophone: mussel

Noun

muscle (countable and uncountable, plural muscles)

1. (uncountable) A contractile form of tissue which animals use to effect movement.

   Muscle consists largely of actin and myosin filaments.

   Synonym: thew

   • 1701, Nehemiah Grew, “Of the Use of Organized Bodies”, in Cosmologia Sacra: Or A Discourse of the Universe as It is the Creature and Kingdom of God. , London: W. Rogers, S. Smith, and B Walford: , →OCLC, 1st book, paragraph 18, page 27:

     For as the Trunk of the Body, is kept from tilting forvvard by the Muſcules of the Back: So, from falling backvvard, by theſe of the Belly.

2. (countable) An organ composed of muscle tissue.
   • 1912 January, Zane Grey, chapter VIII, in Riders of the Purple Sage , New York, N.Y., London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC:

     His brow and hair and the palms of his hands were wet, and there was a kind of nervous contraction of his muscles. They seemed to ripple and string tense.

   • 1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Animal Farm , London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC:

     You, Boxer, the very day that those great muscles of yours lose their power, Jones will sell you to the knacker […]

3. (uncountable, usually in the plural) A well-developed physique, in which the muscles are enlarged from exercise.
   • 2008, Lou Schuler, "Foreward", in Nate Green, Built for Show, page xii

     The fact that I was middle-aged, bald, married, and raising girls instead of chasing them didn't really bother me. Muscles are cool at any age.

4. (uncountable, figurative) Strength, force.
   • 2010, Adam Quinn, US Foreign Policy in Context, page 81:

     The lesson to be drawn from the events of 1914, to Roosevelt's mind, was that civilization needed muscle to defend it, not just solemn words.

   • 2013, John D. MacDonald, The Long Lavender Look, page 15:

     It was going to take muscle to pluck Miss Agnes out of the canal.

   • 2022 January 12, Christian Wolmar, “A new year... but the same old mistakes are being made”, in RAIL, number 948, pages 40–41:

     How can the unions - or more specifically the RMT—possibly think this is a good time to exert a bit of industrial muscle and indulge in strikes both on the national railway and the London Underground?

5. (uncountable, figurative) Hired strongmen or bodyguards.
   • 1985, Lance Parkin, The Infinity Doctors, page 34:

     It was easy enough to dodge him, let him crash into the floorboards. Peltroc knew that his priority was the leader, not the hired muscle.

Alternative forms

• muscule (obsolete)

Hyponyms

• Types of muscles: See Category:en:Muscles

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• myology
• myotomy

Verb

muscle (third-person singular simple present muscles, present participle muscling, simple past and past participle muscled)

1. To use force to make progress, especially physical force.

   He muscled his way through the crowd.

   • 1988, Steve Holman, “Christian Conquers Columbus”, in Ironman, 47 (6): 28-34:

     Hensel and Wilson hit a series of leg shots simultaneously as Christian muscles between them with Quinn right on his heels.

   • 1990, Wayne Jancik, The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, →ISBN, page 236:

     Nothing the Nebraskans ever again recorded managed to muscle more than minimal attention.

   • 2006, Noire , Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 112:

     "Here!" I passed out stacks of money. T.C. hadn't had time to batch it up, so some of it was just laying loose in money bags and I passed all that shit out to Rome while Pimp muscled Miss Lady around.

Derived terms

• outmuscle

Translations

Related terms

• mouse

References

• “muscle”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Anagrams

• clumse

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Latin musculus, doublet of múscul (“muscle”) and musclo (“mussel”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic)
• IPA^(key): (Valencian)

Noun

muscle m (plural muscles)

1. shoulder

   Synonym: espatlla

   • 2000, Francesc Serés, Els ventres de la terra, Columna, page 41:

     Quan ens cansem ella recolza el cap al meu muscle.

     When we get tired, she rests her head on my shoulder.

Further reading

• “muscle” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “muscle”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “muscle” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “muscle” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French muscle, a borrowing from Latin mūsculus (“a muscle”, literally “little mouse”). See also the inherited doublet moule (“mussel, clam”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /myskl/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

muscle m (plural muscles)

1. muscle (contractile tissue, strength)

Derived terms

• muscle lisse
• muscle squelettique

Verb

muscle

1. inflection of muscler:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “muscle”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English muscelle, from Late Latin mūscula (“mussel”). Reinforced by Old French mosle.

Alternative forms

• moskle, muschyl, muscul, muskall, muskel, muskele, muskell, muskle, muskyl, muskyll, musshell, mustul

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmus(k)əl/, /ˈmus(k)lə/

Noun

muscle (plural muscles)

1. mussel (bivalve)
2. (rare) A sort of siege engine.

Descendants

• English: mussel
• Scots: mushle

References

• “muscle, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

From Middle French muscle, from Latin mūsculus (“muscle”).

Alternative forms

• mucell, muscule, musculle, muskylle

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmusəl/, /ˈmuslə/, /ˈmuskiu̯l(ə)/

Noun

muscle (plural muscles)

1. (anatomy) muscle

Descendants

• English: muscle

References

• “muscle, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Middle French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin musculus.

Noun

muscle m (plural muscles)

1. (anatomy) muscle

Descendants

• French: muscle
• → Middle English: muscle
  • English: muscle

Norman

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin mūsculus (“a muscle”, literally “little mouse”), from Ancient Greek μῦς (mûs, “mouse, muscle, mussel”).

Noun

muscle m (plural muscles)

1. (anatomy) muscle

Occitan

Etymology

From Latin mūsculus.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

muscle m (plural muscles)

1. muscle
2. mussel

Further reading

• Joan de Cantalausa (2006) Diccionari general occitan a partir dels parlars lengadocians‎, 2 edition, →ISBN, page 667.

Old English

Alternative forms

• muscelle, muxle, musle

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin mūscula, from Latin mūsculus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmus.kle/

Noun

muscle f

1. mussel

Declension

Descendants

• Middle English: muscle, moskle, muschyl, muscul, muskall, muskel, muskele, muskell, muskle, muskyl, muskyll, musshell, mustul
  • English: mussel
  • Scots: mushle

References

• Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898) “muscelle”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary‎, 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.