Where does “muscle” come from?
Muscle comes from Middle English muscle, from Old French muscle, from Latin mūsculus meaning "small mouse," so called from the resemblance of a muscle to a mouse moving beneath the skin.
muscle (English): A contractile form of tissue which animals use to...
Definitions
- A contractile form of tissue which animals use to...
Ancestry of “muscle”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | muscle | — |
| 2 | Old English | muscle | — |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | *muskulā | — |
| 4 | Latin | muscula | Diminutive of musca |
| 5 | Latin | mūsculus | — |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | μῦς | mouse; A type of mussel; A type of whale |
| 7 | Proto-Hellenic | *mū́s | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-Iranian | múHs | mouse |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | múh₂s | mouse |
Words derived from “muscle”