musculus

English

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin mūsculus (“a little mouse; a muscle”), diminutive of mūs (“a mouse”).

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmʌ.skjʊl.əs/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmʌ.skjəl.əs/
Homophone: musculous
Rhymes: -ʌskjʊləs

Noun

musculus (plural musculi)

(anatomy) A muscle. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Derived terms

musculus papillaris

Related terms

References

“musculus”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
“musculus”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Latin

Etymology

From mūs (“a mouse”) +‎ -culus (diminutive suffix), literally “little mouse”. The “muscle” sense is a semantic loan from Ancient Greek μῦς (mûs, “mouse; muscle”).^[1]

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈmuːs.ku.lus/, [ˈmuːs̠kʊɫ̪ʊs̠]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈmus.ku.lus/, [ˈmuskulus]

Noun

mūsculus m (genitive mūsculī); second declension

(literally) diminutive of mūs: a small mouse
(transferred sense)
1. a companion of the whale
2. a saltwater mussel
3. (anatomy) a muscle
4. (military) a shed, mantelet, shielding
5. A kind of small sailing vessel.

This entry needs quotations to illustrate usage. If you come across any interesting, durably archived quotes then please add them!

Inflection

Second-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	mūsculus	mūsculī
genitive	mūsculī	mūsculōrum
dative	mūsculō	mūsculīs
accusative	mūsculum	mūsculōs
ablative	mūsculō	mūsculīs
vocative	mūscule	mūsculī

Derived terms

*muscelliō (< *muscellus)
- Galician: mexillón
- Portuguese: mexilhão
- → Spanish: mejillón
mūsculāris
mūsculōsus

Descendants

Aragonese: musclo, muscllo
Aromanian: mushclju
Asturian: muslu
Catalan: muscle, musclo
Corsican: musculu
Italian: muscolo
Occitan: muscle
Old French: moule, moucle, moulle, mouscle
- French: moule
- → Middle Dutch: mosscele
  - Dutch: mossel
Romanian: mușchi
Spanish: muslo
→ Asturian: músculu
→ Albanian: muskul, mushk
→ Catalan: múscul
→ Danish: muskel
→ English: musculus (learned)
→ Middle French: muscle
- French: muscle
- → Middle English: muscle
  - English: muscle
→ Friulian: muscul
→ Galician: músculo
→ German: Muskel
→ Proto-West Germanic: *muskulā (see there for further descendants)
→ Portuguese: músculo
→ Romansch: muscul, muscal, muscla
→ Russian: мускул (muskul)
→ Sardinian: musculu
→ Spanish: músculo
→ Swedish: muskel

References

“musculus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“musculus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
musculus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
musculus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
“musculus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
“musculus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 396

[1] De Vaan, Michiel (2008) Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 396

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