The Latin Roots of Muscle Names

Author:

Edmund has spent the last ten years working in clinical research. He has written many articles on human anatomy and physiology.

Anterior view of the Human Muscular System showing only some major muscles
Author

A lot of students come to me for help because they have troubles learning the names of skeletal muscles of the human muscular system. These muscle names are derived from Latin. At first you would think this as a hindrance, but actually most of the time you could use these names as clues to help you learn the shape of the muscles, their locations and what they do. All you need is a dictionary or some guide book to help you translate Latin to English.

Let us look at a group of muscles called Flexor muscles. This is a group of muscle with the word Flexor at the beginning of the muscle name. Flexor is derived from modern Latin Flexus, the past participle of Flectere which means ‘bender’. Let us now pick one of these Flexor muscles, for example Flexor carpi radialis. Carpi is modern Latin meaning ‘wrist’. Radialis is used here to refer to the position of the muscle on radial side the forearm (that is, near or at the radius bone).

The next muscle we should look at is the Flexor carpi ulnaris. Flexor carpi we already know means “wrist bender” and Ulnaris refers to the position at the ulna bone. Therefore, Flexor carpi ulnaris means ‘wrist bender at ulna’ or ‘bender of the wrist at the ulna’.

Let us now apply what we have learned so far on a longer muscle name; Flexor digiti minimi brevis. This is kind of a whole phrase in Latin. Flexor we already know means ‘bender’. In this case Digiti means ‘pointing thing’. Since we point with our fingers this applies to the fingers. Minimi comes from Minimus meaning ‘least or smallest’. Brevis means ‘short’. So from Flexor digiti minimi brevis, we have the following words: bender, finger, smallest, short. In English, this means ‘short smallest finger bender’. This can be adjusted to ‘the short muscle that bends the little finger’.

Names and Meanings of Skeletal Muscle of the Human Body

Here is a list with a selection of major skeletal muscles of the human body including the meaning of their names. This list is arranged by location.

Anterior View


#	View	Region	Muscle Name	Meaning
1	Anterior	Arm, Hand	Abductor digiti minimi	Abducts the little finger
2	Anterior	Arm, Hand	Abductor pollicis brevis	Short muscles abducts thumb
3	Anterior	Arm, Hand	Adductor pollicis	Adductor of thumb
4	Anterior	Arm, Hand	Biceps brachii	Two-headed arm muscle
5	Anterior	Arm, Hand	Brachialis	Muscle of the Arm
6	Anterior	Arm, Hand	Brachioradialis	Muscle of the Arm along the Radius bone
7	Anterior	Arm, Hand	Coracobrachialis	Arm crow muscle
8	Anterior	Arm, Hand	Deltoid	Triangle-like
9	Anterior	Arm, Hand	Extensor carpi radialis brevis	Short wrist stretcher at the radius bone
10	Anterior	Arm, Hand	Extensor carpi radialis longus	Long wrist stretcher at the radius bone
11	Anterior	Arm, Hand	Extensor digitorum	Stretches the fingers
12	Anterior	Arm, Hand	Flexor carpi radialis	Wrist bender at the radius bone
13	Anterior	Arm, Hand	Flexor carpi ulnaris	Wrist bender at the ulna bone
14	Anterior	Arm, Hand	Flexor digiti minimi brevis	Short muscle that bends little finger
15	Anterior	Arm, Hand	Flexor digitorum profundus	Deep muscles that bends the fingers
16	Anterior	Arm, Hand	Flexor digitorum superficialis	Muscles towards to surface that bends the fingers
17	Anterior	Arm, Hand	Flexor pollicis brevis	Short muscle that bends the thumb
18	Anterior	Arm, Hand	Lumbrical	Worm-like
19	Anterior	Arm, Hand	Opponens digiti minimi	Muscle that places Small finger in opposite side
20	Anterior	Arm, Hand	Opponens pollicis	Muscle that places Thumb finger in opposite side
21	Anterior	Arm, Hand	Palmaris longus	Long muscle on the flat of the hand
22	Anterior	Arm, Hand	Pronator quadratus	Square muscles that turns palm facing downwards
23	Anterior	Arm, Hand	Pronator teres	Rounded muscle that turns palm facing downwards
24	Anterior	Arm, Hand	Supinator	Muscle that makes hand lay on its back
25	Anterior	Arm, Hand	Triceps brachii	Three-headed arm muscle
26	Anterior	Head, Face, Neck	Buccinator	Trumpeter muscle (muscle used in blowing)
27	Anterior	Head, Face, Neck	Corrugator supercilii	Wrinkles above eyelashes
28	Anterior	Head, Face, Neck	Depressor anguli oris	Muscle that presses corner of the mouth
29	Anterior	Head, Face, Neck	Depressor labii inferioris	Muscle that presses down lower lip
30	Anterior	Head, Face, Neck	Frontalis	Frontal belly of occipitofrontalis
31	Anterior	Head, Face, Neck	Levator anguli oris	Muscle that lifts the corner of mouth
32	Anterior	Head, Face, Neck	Levator labii superioris	Muscle that lifts the upper lip
33	Anterior	Head, Face, Neck	Levator palpebrae superioris	Muscle that lifts the upper eyelid
34	Anterior	Head, Face, Neck	Mentalis	Muscle of the chin
35	Anterior	Head, Face, Neck	Nasalis	Muscle of the nose
36	Anterior	Head, Face, Neck	Occipitofrontalis	Muscle of the skull that goes from brow to back of the head
37	Anterior	Head, Face, Neck	Omohyoid	Muscle of the shoulder and hyoid
38	Anterior	Head, Face, Neck	Orbicularis oculi	Little circle muscle of the eye
39	Anterior	Head, Face, Neck	Orbicularis oris	Little circle muscle of the mouth
40	Anterior	Head, Face, Neck	Sternocleidomastoid	Muscle that connects the Sternum, clavicle and mastoid process
41	Anterior	Head, Face, Neck	Sternohyoid	Muscle of the chest and hyoid
42	Anterior	Head, Face, Neck	Temporalis	Time muscle
43	Anterior	Head, Face, Neck	Zygomaticus major	Greater muscle of the yoke-shaped bone
44	Anterior	Head, Face, Neck	Zygomaticus minor	Lesser muscle of the yoke-shaped bone
45	Anterior	Leg, Foot	Abductor hallucis	Abducts big toe
46	Anterior	Leg, Foot	Adductor brevis	Short adductor
47	Anterior	Leg, Foot	Adductor longus	Long adductor
48	Anterior	Leg, Foot	Biceps femoris	Two-headed thigh muscle
49	Anterior	Leg, Foot	Extensor digitorum longus	Long muscle that stretches the toe
50	Anterior	Leg, Foot	Extensor hallucis longus	Long muscle that stretches the big toe
51	Anterior	Leg, Foot	Flexor digitorum brevis	Short muscles that bends toes
52	Anterior	Leg, Foot	Flexor digitorum Longus	Long muscles that bends the toes
53	Anterior	Leg, Foot	Flexor hallucis brevis	Short muscle that bends the big toe
54	Anterior	Leg, Foot	Gastrocnemius	Belly muscle of leg
55	Anterior	Leg, Foot	Gracilis	Slender muscle
56	Anterior	Leg, Foot	Iliacus	Flank muscle
57	Anterior	Leg, Foot	Ischiocavernosus	Muscle of the hip with hollow space
58	Anterior	Leg, Foot	Levator ani	Muscle that lifts anus
59	Anterior	Leg, Foot	Lumbrical	Worm-like
60	Anterior	Leg, Foot	Peroneus brevis	Short muscle of pointed bone
61	Anterior	Leg, Foot	Peroneus longus	Long muscle of pointed bone
62	Anterior	Leg, Foot	Peroneus tertius	Third muscle of pointed bone
63	Anterior	Leg, Foot	Psoas major	Greater muscle of loin region
64	Anterior	Leg, Foot	Psoas minor	Lesser muscle of loin region
65	Anterior	Leg, Foot	Quadriceps femoris	Four-headed muscle of the femur
66	Anterior	Leg, Foot	Rectus femoris	Straight muscle of the thigh
67	Anterior	Leg, Foot	Sartorius	Tailor muscle
68	Anterior	Leg, Foot	Soleus	Sandal muscle
69	Anterior	Leg, Foot	Tensor fasciae latae	Stretches the side bundle
70	Anterior	Leg, Foot	Tibialis anterior	Muscle in front of the shinbone
71	Anterior	Leg, Foot	Vastus intermedius	Enormous muscle in-between the middle
72	Anterior	Leg, Foot	Vastus lateralis	Enormous muscle on the side
73	Anterior	Leg, Foot	Vastus medialis	Enormous muscle towards the middle
74	Anterior	Trunk, Torso	Bulbospongiosus	Spongy bulb
75	Anterior	Trunk, Torso	Diaphragm	Across enclosure
76	Anterior	Trunk, Torso	External intercostal	Outward muscle between ribs
77	Anterior	Trunk, Torso	External oblique	Outer slanting muscle
78	Anterior	Trunk, Torso	Iliocostalis	Muscle between flank and ribs
79	Anterior	Trunk, Torso	Iliopsoas	Psoas major and Iliacus muscles
80	Anterior	Trunk, Torso	Internal intercostal	Inner muscle between the ribs
81	Anterior	Trunk, Torso	Internal oblique	Slanting belly muscle
82	Anterior	Trunk, Torso	Interspinales	Between spines
83	Anterior	Trunk, Torso	Latissimus dorsi	Broadest back muscle
84	Anterior	Trunk, Torso	Pectoralis major	Greater breast muscle
85	Anterior	Trunk, Torso	Pectoralis minor	Lesser breast muscle
86	Anterior	Trunk, Torso	Rectus abdominis	Straight belly muscle
87	Anterior	Trunk, Torso	Serratus anterior	Anterior saw-like muscle
88	Anterior	Trunk, Torso	Sternocleidomastoid	Muscle that connects the Sternum, clavicle and mastoid process
89	Anterior	Trunk, Torso	Transversus abdominis	crosswise muscle of the chest
90	Anterior	Trunk, Torso	Trapezius	Four-sided muscle

Posterior View


#	View	Region	Muscle Name	Meaning
91	Posterior	Arm, Hand	Brachioradialis	Muscle of the Arm along the Radius bone
92	Posterior	Arm, Hand	Deltoid	Triangle-like
93	Posterior	Arm, Hand	Extensor carpi ulnaris	Wrist stretcher at the ulna bone
94	Posterior	Arm, Hand	Triceps brachii	Three-headed arm muscle
95	Posterior	Head, Face, Neck	Masseter	Chewer muscle
96	Posterior	Head, Face, Neck	Occipitofrontalis	Muscle of the skull that goes from brow to back of the head
97	Posterior	Head, Face, Neck	Splenius capitis	Bandage muscle of the head
98	Posterior	Head, Face, Neck	Splenius cervicis	Bandage muscle of the neck
99	Posterior	Head, Face, Neck	Trapezius	Four-sided muscle
100	Posterior	Leg, Foot	Adductor longus	Long adductor
101	Posterior	Leg, Foot	Adductor magnus	Large adductor
102	Posterior	Leg, Foot	Biceps femoris	Two-headed thigh muscle
103	Posterior	Leg, Foot	Gastrocnemius	Belly muscle of leg
104	Posterior	Leg, Foot	Gluteus maximus	Largest butt muscle
105	Posterior	Leg, Foot	Gluteus medius	Medium butt muscle
106	Posterior	Leg, Foot	Gluteus minimus	Smallest butt muscle
107	Posterior	Leg, Foot	Gracilis	Slender muscle
108	Posterior	Leg, Foot	Peroneus longus	Long muscle of pointed bone
109	Posterior	Leg, Foot	Piriformis	Pear-shaped muscle
110	Posterior	Leg, Foot	Rectus femoris	Straight muscle of the thigh
111	Posterior	Leg, Foot	Semimembranosus	Half skin muscle
112	Posterior	Leg, Foot	Semitendinosus	Half tightly stretch band muscle
113	Posterior	Leg, Foot	Soleus	Sandal muscle
114	Posterior	Leg, Foot	Vastus lateralis	Enormous muscle on the side
115	Posterior	Trunk, Torso	Erector spinae	Straightens the spine
116	Posterior	Trunk, Torso	External oblique	Outer slanting muscle
117	Posterior	Trunk, Torso	Infraspinatus	Muscle below the spine
118	Posterior	Trunk, Torso	Internal oblique	Slanting belly muscle
119	Posterior	Trunk, Torso	Latissimus dorsi	Broadest back muscle
120	Posterior	Trunk, Torso	Levator scapulae	Muscle that lifts the Scapula
121	Posterior	Trunk, Torso	Longissimus capitis	Longest muscle of the head
122	Posterior	Trunk, Torso	Quadratus lumborum	Square muscle of the loin
123	Posterior	Trunk, Torso	Rhomboid major	Large oblique angled parallelogram-shaped muscle
124	Posterior	Trunk, Torso	Rhomboid minor	Lesser oblique angled parallelogram-shaped muscle
125	Posterior	Trunk, Torso	Semispinalis capitis	Muscle of half spine of the head
126	Posterior	Trunk, Torso	Semispinalis cervicis	Muscle of half spine
127	Posterior	Trunk, Torso	Spinalis	Spine muscle
128	Posterior	Trunk, Torso	Splenius capitis	Bandage muscle of the head
129	Posterior	Trunk, Torso	Subscapularis	Muscle under the spade
130	Posterior	Trunk, Torso	Supraspinatus	Muscle above the spine
131	Posterior	Trunk, Torso	Teres major	Greater rounded muscle
132	Posterior	Trunk, Torso	Teres minor	Lesser rounded muscle
133	Posterior	Trunk, Torso	Transversospinalis	Transverse spine muscle
134	Posterior	Trunk, Torso	Trapezius	Four-sided muscle