entry
muscle
/ˈmʌsəl/Contractile body tissue; also strength or force
From Latin mūs (Mouse).
from Latin mūsculus (“a muscle”, literally “little mouse”) because of the mouselike appearance of some muscles
from Middle French muscle
from Middle English muscle, muscule, muskylle, and in part
Word Ancestry
from Latin mūsculus (“a muscle”, literally “little mouse”) because of the mouselike appearance of some muscles
from Middle French muscle
from Middle English muscle, muscule, muskylle, and in part
A flexing biceps once looked, to someone watching closely, like a tiny mouse moving beneath the skin. Latin speakers called a mouse mūs and a little mouse mūsculus; that miniature rodent became the name for a body part. English picked up muscle in the late 14th century, through Middle English and, according to one account, Middle French. The same mouse comparison appears in Greek, whose word for mouse also meant muscle, though that is a parallel resemblance rather than the Latin word’s source. By 1930, muscle had flexed figuratively into “force” or “threat of violence”—the little mouse had grown into hired muscle.
The Story
A flexing biceps once looked, to someone watching closely, like a tiny mouse moving beneath the skin. Latin speakers called a mouse mūs and a little mouse mūsculus; that miniature rodent became the name for a body part. English picked up muscle in the late 14th century, through Middle English and, according to one account, Middle French. The same mouse comparison appears in Greek, whose word for mouse also meant muscle, though that is a parallel resemblance rather than the Latin word’s source. By 1930, muscle had flexed figuratively into “force” or “threat of violence”—the little mouse had grown into hired muscle.
Modern Usage
A person hired or employed to provide protection or physical force.
Kin & Kindred
From 'mūs'·Mouse; source of Latin mūsculus, “little mouse”
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Urban Dictionary
Wikipedia
Wiktionary