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muscle (n.)

“由纤维束组成的可收缩的动物组织”, 14世纪末, “身体的肌肉”, 来自拉丁文 musculus “肌肉”, 字面意思是“小老鼠”, 是 mus “老鼠” 的缩略语(见 mouse (n.) ).

之所以这么叫, 是因为有些肌肉(尤其是肱二头肌) 的形状和动作被认为很像老鼠. 在希腊语中也有类似的说法, mys 既是“老鼠” 又是“肌肉”, 其组合形式给出了医学前缀 myo-. 也可比较古教会斯拉夫语 mysi “老鼠”, mysica “手臂”; 德语 Maus “老鼠; 肌肉”, 阿拉伯语 'adalah “肌肉”, 'adal “田鼠”; 康沃尔语 logodenfer “腿部的小腿”, 字面意思是“腿部的老鼠”. 在中古英语中, lacerte, 来自拉丁语“蜥蜴”, 也被用作肌肉的词.

Musclez & lacertez bene one selfe þing, Bot þe muscle is said to þe fourme of mouse & lacert to þe fourme of a lizard. [Guy de Chauliac, “Grande Chirurgie,” c. 1425]

因此, muscular 和 mousy 是亲戚关系, “肌肉” 的中英文单词是 lacertous, “lizardy”. “肌肉, 力量, 膂力” 的形象意义是到1850年; “武力, 暴力, 暴力威胁” 的形象意义是1930年, 美国英语. Muscle car “hot rod” 是1969年的.

muscle (v.)

1913年, “以实力来完成”, 来自 muscle (n.). 意为“以暴力或压力胁迫”, 到1929年在美国黑社会俚语中. 相关链接: Muscled; muscling.

Entries related to muscle

mouse (n.)

Middle English mous, from Old English mus "small rodent," also "muscle of the arm" (compare muscle (n.)); from Proto-Germanic *mus (source also of Old Norse, Old Frisian, Middle Dutch, Danish, Swedish mus, Dutch muis, German Maus "mouse"), from PIE *mus-, the old Indo-European name of the mouse, retained in several language families (source also of Sanskrit mus "mouse, rat," Old Persian mush "mouse," Old Church Slavonic mysu, Latin mus, Lithuanian muse "mouse," Greek mys "mouse, muscle").

Plural form mice (Old English mys) shows effects of i-mutation. As a type of something timid or weak, from late 14c. Contrasted with man (n.) from 1620s (nor man nor mouse). Meaning "black eye" (or other discolored lump on the body) is from 1842. Computer sense of "small device moved by the hand over a flat surface to maneuver a cursor or arrow on a display screen" is from 1965, though the word was applied to other things resembling a mouse in shape since 1750, mainly in nautical use.

Parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus [Horace]
myo- 
before vowels my-, word-forming element meaning "muscle," from combining form of Greek mys "muscle," literally "mouse" (see muscle (n.)).

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Definitions of muscle
1
muscle (n.)
one of the contractile organs of the body;
Synonyms: musculus
muscle (n.)
animal tissue consisting predominantly of contractile cells;
Synonyms: muscular tissue
muscle (n.)
a bully employed as a thug or bodyguard;
Synonyms: muscleman
muscle (n.)
authority or power or force (especially when used in a coercive way);
the senators used their muscle to get the party leader to resign
muscle (n.)
possessing muscular strength;
Synonyms: brawn / brawniness / muscularity / sinew / heftiness
2
muscle (v.)
make one's way by force;
He muscled his way into the office
From wordnet.princeton.edu

Dictionary entries near muscle

Murphy

murrain

muscat

Muscat

muscatel

muscle

muscle-bound

muscled

muscle-man

muscly

Muscovy

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