muscle

Where does the word "muscle" come from? It comes from Latin musculus, and was adopted directly into English (1300s).

Muscle’s story begins in Latin: musculus meant “a little mouse.” Literally little mouse, since a flexing muscle was thought to resemble a mouse moving under the skin. It reached English by 1300s as muscle. Settled as the English word for the body's contractile tissue. Today, muscle means a body tissue that contracts to produce movement and strength.

1. Stage 1 · Latin · ancient musculus "a little mouse", literally little mouse, since a flexing muscle was thought to resemble a mouse moving under the skin.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1300s muscle "a body tissue that contracts to produce movement", settled as the English word for the body's contractile tissue.