PERMANENT SOURCE RECORD
ALL SOURCES ↗BIBLIOGRAPHIC IDENTITYmw-muscle
SOURCE
RECORD.
One work. Every claim that depends on it. No citation without a consequence you can inspect.
10 PUBLIC LINKS INTO THE GRAPH.
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historical dictionarymw-muscle
Muscle — Word History
- AUTHOR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
- YEAR
- 2026
- PUBLISHER
- Merriam-Webster
- DOI
- Not recorded
- SOURCE TYPE
- historical dictionary
- EXTERNAL RECORD
- OPEN ORIGINAL ↗
011
CONTRARIAN TRUTH CLAIMS
RANKED REVEALS THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
RANK 172GRADE Asupports
A muscle was a “little mouse.”
Latin musculus is a diminutive of mūs “mouse.” The derivation is secure; the exact resemblance mechanism remains qualified.
*mūs-
*mūs- → mūs → musculus → muscle → muscle → muscle
Latin musculus, diminutive of mūsDocuments the secure little-mouse derivation.
muscle dossier ↗truth record ↗84UNVEILING
022
SCHOLARLY DISAGREEMENT
DISPUTE POSITIONS THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
resolvedsupportsestablished
Is musculus really a “little mouse”?
Latin musculus is morphologically the diminutive of mūs “mouse.”
Latin musculus, diminutive of mūsDocuments the secure little-mouse derivation.
resolvedcontextestablished
Did anatomical muscle reach English through French?
The anatomical English word passed through Middle English and Old French from Latin musculus.
Etymology and First Known UseSupplies the Latin diminutive base behind the French form.
032
CANONICAL RELATIONSHIP CLAIMS
EDGES THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
EDGE 101supportsestablished
muscle → muscle
Present-Day English → Middle English · continuation
- SOUND
- Middle English muscle continued into modern English with regular orthographic and phonological development.
- MEANING
- The anatomical meaning remained central and later extended to strength and coercive power.
- SCHOLAR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster · American Heritage editors
Etymology and First Known UseEDGE 104supportsestablished
musculus → mūs
Latin → Latin · diminutive derivation
- SOUND
- Latin musculus is the diminutive formation built from mūs with the suffix -culus.
- MEANING
- “Little mouse” named a muscle and also supplied a Latin name for the mussel; the anatomical resemblance mechanism is not fixed here.
- SCHOLAR / EDITOR
- American Heritage · Merriam-Webster editors
Latin musculus, diminutive of mūsDocuments the little-mouse derivation.
041
LEXICAL ATTESTATIONS
WITNESSES REPORTED BY THIS SOURCE
muscleSOURCE-REPORTED
muscle
English lexicographic first-use record for muscle
OPEN WITNESS 32 ↗051
COMPARATIVE EVIDENCE
COGNATES, DESCENDANTS, AND RELATIVES
muscular
Englishderivative built from the muscle family
063
GEOGRAPHIC AND TEMPORAL CLAIMS
JOURNEY STAGES THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
stage 1supports
Latin-speaking Roman world
Derives Latin musculus as the diminutive of mūs “mouse” and explains the muscle name through perceived resemblance to a mouse.
Did You Know? and Word History: Etymology · broadstage 3supports
Middle English anatomical muscle
Reports the Middle English and Latin history and a fourteenth-century first-known-use horizon for the English anatomical noun.
Word History: Etymology and First Known Use · broadstage 4supports
English-language muscle senses
Documents the continuing anatomical noun plus strength, power, and force senses, while dating only the core English noun to the fourteenth century.
Current definitions and Word History: First Known Use · broad070
NON-GENEALOGICAL CONNECTIONS
HISTORICAL CONTEXT, KEPT SEPARATE
No non-genealogical context link currently cites this source.
081
WORD-FAMILY REUSE
DOSSIERS THAT DEPEND ON THIS SOURCE
2 entry-scoped citations map reviewed dossier paths onto the canonical claims above.