1103 Chapter 11. The Muscular System
11.2 Naming Skeletal Muscles
Learning Objectives
By the end of this section, you will be able to:
- Specify some of the criteria used in the naming of muscles
The Greeks and Romans conducted the first studies done on the human body in Western culture. The educated class of subsequent societies studied Latin and Greek, and therefore the early pioneers of anatomy continued to apply Latin and Greek terminology or roots when they named the skeletal muscles. The large number of muscles in the body and unfamiliar words can make learning the names of the muscles in the body seem daunting, but understanding the etymology can help. Etymology is the study of how the root of a particular word entered a language and how the use of the word evolved over time. Taking the time to learn the root of the words is crucial to understanding the vocabulary of anatomy and physiology. When you understand the names of muscles it will help you remember where the muscles are located and what they do (Figure 1, Figure 2, and Table 2). Pronunciation of words and terms will take a bit of time to master, but after you have some basic information; the correct names and pronunciations will become easier.
| Mnemonic Device for Latin Roots (Table 2) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Example | Latin or Greek Translation | Mnemonic Device |
| ad | to; toward | ADvance toward your goal |
| ab | away from | n/a |
| sub | under | SUBmarines move under water. |
| ductor | something that moves | A conDUCTOR makes a train move. |
| anti | against | If you are antisocial, you are against engaging in social activities. |
| epi | on top of | n/a |
| apo | to the side of | n/a |
| longissimus | longest | “Longissimus” is longer than the word “long.” |
| longus | long | long |
| brevis | short | brief |
| maximus | large | max |
| medius | medium | “Medius” and “medium” both begin with “med.” |
| minimus | tiny; little | mini |
| rectus | straight | To RECTify a situation is to straighten it out. |
| multi | many | If something is MULTIcolored, it has many colors. |
| uni | one | A UNIcorn has one horn. |
| bi/di | two | If a ring is DIcast, it is made of two metals. |
| tri | three | TRIple the amount of money is three times as much. |
| quad | four | QUADruplets are four children born at one birth. |
| externus | outside | EXternal |
| internus | inside | INternal |
Anatomists name the skeletal muscles according to a number of criteria, each of which describes the muscle in some way. These include naming the muscle after its shape, the direction of its muscle fibers, its size compared to other muscles in the area, its location in the body or the location of its attachments to the skeleton, how many origins it has, or its action. Often, a muscle’s name will refer to several of these characteristics.
The shapes of some muscles are very distinctive and the names, such as orbicularis for “orbit” or deltoid for the Greek letter delta (which looks like a triangle), reflect