Muscles May Be Named According to Any of These

Characteristics
1. What is the size of the muscle? Its it bigger than a muscle near it, or smaller?
2. Where is the muscle located? This may refer to a body part, or to the origin and insertion
of a muscle.
3. What is its basic shape? What does it look like?
4. What is its function? Does it extend a joint or flex it?
5. How many origins does it have ("heads", parts or divisions)?
6. What is the muscle's origin and insertion?
7. What is the muscle orientation relative to the midline of the body? Or, in other words, in
what direction do the muscle's fibers run? Are they straight (rectus), or perhaps oblique
(slanted)?

Each of these basic characteristics are "coded" with root words used to form the larger
name. Many times, as well, a muscles name must be based on its relationship to another
similar or paired muscle. Let's look at some of the basic words used to describe muscles:

Words That Refer to Muscle Size

Maximus: largest (gluteus maximus is the largest muscle of the buttock)
Minimus: smallest (gluteus minimus is the smallest muscle of the buttock)
Medius: intermediate in size, do not confuse with medialis (gluteus medius is the the
intermediate sized muscle of the three buttock muscles)
Major: larger (pectoralis major is the larger muscle of the chest)
Minor: smaller (pectoralis minor is the smaller muscle of the chest)
Brevis: shortest (peroneus or fibularis brevis is the shortest of the peroneal muscles)
Longus: longest (peroneus or fibularis longus is the longest of the peroneal muscles)
Vastus: great or huge (used for two muscles of the thigh: vastus lateralis and
medialis)

Words that Refer to Muscle Shape

Deltoid: triangular (e.g. deltoid muscle of the shoulder)
Rhomboid: diamond shaped (e.g. rhomboideus minor and major muscles, collectively
the "rhomboids")
Quadratus: square or four-sided (e.g. quadratus lumborum or quadratus femoris)
Trapezius: trapazoidal shaped (e.g. trapezius muscle)
Serratus: serrated or saw-toothed (e.g. seratus anterior)
Teres: round or cylindrical shaped (e.g. pronator teres)
Platysma: flat (e.g. platysma muscle of neck)
Words that Refer to Body Parts or Regions
(Location)
Pectoral: chest (two muscles, pectoralis major and minor)
Brachii: arm (biceps brachii)
Carpus: wrist (flexor carpi radialis and ulnaris)
Palmaris: palm of the hand (e.g. palmaris longus)
Digiti: finger or toe, singular (extensor digiti minimi)
Digitorum (finger or toes, plural (flexor digitorum profundus)
Indicis: index finger (extensor indicis)
Hallucis: great or big toe (abductor hallucis)
Femoris: thigh (rectus femoris)
Gluteus: gluteal or buttock region (three muscles, gluteus maximum, minimum, and
medius)
Tibialis: lower leg or shin bone (tibia) (tibialis anterior and posterior)
Peroneus: fibula, sometimes fibularis is used (peroneus longus)
Spina, Spinalis: spine (erector spinae, spinalis cervicis and capitis)
Spinatus: spine of the scapula (infraspinatus and supraspinatus)
Pollicis: thumb (adductor and opponens pollicis)
Oculi: eye (orbicularis oculi)
Oris: mouth (depressor anguli oris)
Labii: Lips (levator labii superioris)
Capitis: head (splenius capitis)
Cervicis: neck (semispinalis cervicis)
Thoracis: thorax (spinalis thoracis)
Abdominis: abdomen (rectus abdominus)
Lumborum: lower back or lumbar (quadratus lumborum)
Scapularis: scapula or shoulder blade (e.g. levator scapulae)
Costals: ribs (intercostals or internal intercostal muscles meaning "muscles between
the ribs")

Words that Refer To Relative Location

Lateralis: located to the side or laterally (vastus lateralis)
Medialis: located toward the middle or midline (vastus medialis)
Anterior: toward the front or anterior surface (tibialis anterior or serratus anterior)
Posterior: toward the rear or posterior surface (tibialis posterior)
Superior or Superficialis: superficial or toward the surface (flexor digitorum
superficialis and obliquus capitis superior)
Inferior: underneath or away from the surface (Obliquus capitis inferior)
Profundus: located deep (flexor digitorum profundus)
Supra: above or over (supraspinatus)
Infra: below or beneath (infraspinatus)
Sub: below or under (subscapularis)
Internal: inner (internal oblique)
Inter: between (intercostals)
Dorsi: of the back (latissimus dorsi)

Words that Refer to Muscle Fiber Direction

Note that some writers confound fiber direction terms with shape terms, so that rectus,
which refers to fibers that run up and down, straight and parallel with the midline, are called
"straight" muscles in terms of shape. However, fiber direction does not necessarily denote
the overall profile of a muscle, only the orientation of the fibers.

Rectus: straight, or "erect", specifically meaning parallel to the midline (rectus

femoris meaning "straight muscle of the thigh")
Transversus: transverse or perpendicular to the midline (transversus abdominis or
transverse abdominis)
Oblique: slanted or diagonal to the midline (external oblique)
Orbicularis, Sphincter: a name given to ringlike muscles that encircle and orifice and
that may form a constricting passage (lower esophageal sphincter and orbicularis
oris and anal sphincter)

Words that Refer to Number of Origins or Heads

The suffix "-ceps" means heads. A head is a major division of a muscle that has its own
tendon.

Biceps: two heads (biceps brachii which means "two headed muscle of arm" and
biceps femoris which means "two headed muscle of the thigh")
Triceps three heads (triceps brachii which means "three headed muscle of arm")
Quadriceps: four heads (quadriceps femoris which means "four headed muscle of the
thigh", commonly called the quadriceps). Technically the "quadriceps" are different
muscles, however, not one muscle with multiple origins.

Words that Refer to Actions

Since the various muscle joint actions are so common, muscles that use action terms in
their names usually also give other clues as to their appearance or location.

Flexor: flexes joint, or brings two ends closer together, decreases joint angle (flexor
carpi radialus)
Extensor: extends joint or bring two ends further apart, increase joint angle
(extensor carpi radialus)2
Levator: elevates a structure or part (levator scapulae)
Depressor: depresses a structure or part (depressor anguli oris)
Adductor: adducts or moves a part toward the midline
Abductor: abducts or moves a part away from the midline3
Pronator: pronates or turns the hand or forearm downward or backward (pronator
quadratus and pronator teres muscle)
Supinator: supinates or turns the hand or forearm upward or forward (supinator
muscle)4
Rotator: rotates one structure relative to another (rotatores spinae)
Opponens: Refers to thumb actions only and named for the action of opposition,
which is when the tip of the thumb is brought into contact with other fingers
(opponens pollicis)
Some special action words used for certain muscles:

Sartorius Muscle: Derived from the muscles activity when crossing the legs and
named after the Latin word for tailer, sartor. Tailors used to sit on the floor cross-
legged to do their work, before sewing machines were invented. Other explanations
are also put forth, such as the cross-legged pedaling action of old sewing machines,
which enlarged the muscle in tailors, and the muscles location along the "inseam."
Buccinator: Derived from the muscles action in compressing the cheeks, which
occurs when pursing the lips and blowing forcefully, as when playing the trumpet.
The word buccinator means "trumpet player" so the buccinator is the "trumpet
player muscle."
Risorius: Derived from this facial muscle's action in producing the facial expression
associated with laughter, which is risor in Latin. The actual expression of the muscle
is more appropriately described as a grimace. 2
Masseter: Derived from the muscles major action in chewing, coming from the Greek
mastr, meaning "a chewer."

Words that Refer to Origins and Insertions

It is not necessary to name every possible origin and insertion for each muscle. Only a
relatively few muscles are named by these terms. Below are some examples, giving the
muscle name and the words for the individual attachments that form the name. The first
part of the name always refers to the origin and the second part to the insertion, which are
joined together to form a compound word.

Sternocleidomastoid: Sterno and cleido for its origin, the sternum and clavicle; and
mastoid for its insertion, the mastoid process.
Brachioradialis: Brachio for its origin on the upper arm and radialis for its insertion
on the radius of the forearm.
Genioglossus: Genio for its origin on the chin or "geneion" and glossus for its
insertion on the tongue (glossus).
Sternohyoid: Sterno for its origin on the sternum and hyoid for its insertion at the
hyoid bone.
Coracobrachialis: Coraco for its origin on the corocoid process of the scapula and
brachialis for its insertion on the humerus of the upper arm.

As can be seen by the various terms and methods used to name muscles, it is by far a
perfect system. Unfortunately, throughout the many years spent describing and naming the
body's muscles, anatomists failed to stick to one method. Although there is indeed
structure, some parts of the structure is more scientific than others. For instance, there is
nothing particularly scientific in calling a muscle "deltoid" because it is shaped like a
triangle. Likewise, although a word like "femoris" would seem very precise, there are many
muscles associated with the femoris, or "thigh bone" and therefore a name like "quadratus
femoris" means only "a square-shaped muscle of the thigh bone," which still requires us to
memorize the muscle rather than to be able to guess its precise location and function by its
name. This muscle, after all, could be located on the anterior or the posterior part of the
thigh and could be a hip muscle or a knee muscle. Although gluteus maximus sounds
sufficiently scientific to most laypeople, calling a muscle "a large buttock muscle" is hardly
scientific.

It would seem, then, that those names giving location and action are best, and these would
be termed physiological names. Well, for those studying only human anatomy and human
muscles, this may be the case, but for comparative anatomy and to describe the same
muscles in different animals, it is a mess, as not all muscles necessarily share the same
exact function in all animals. As stated above, perhaps the best system is a morphological
one, which uses the origin and insertion of a muscle for its name, at least for purposes of
comparative anatomy. Still, for students of human kinesiology and physical training,
comparative anatomy is, at best, a side-line. Therefore, more descriptive names are more
useful and most of us should be thankful that the morphological system never really caught
on, although anatomists may grapple with the incongruities.

There will always be some memorization involved in learning the names, functions, and
locations of the muscles. There is just no way around it. Yes, you may know that the
brachialis has something to do with the arm, because of the "brachi" in the word, but that's
all you know. How is it different than the brachioradialis or the coracobrachialis?

After studying the terms above, you should start to see patterns emerging. As you move
down the lists, you should start to recognize the terms previously encountered in the
muscle examples given, so that, as you learn, the names start to make more and more
sense. This is especially the case in the more descriptive names. Fortunately, the other,
badly named muscles, such as the deltoid and trapezius muscles, are the more familiar
muscles to laypeople, and most shouldn't have much trouble with these bad apples. Learn
all the terms in this article, and even with no memorization of the individual muscles you
will know a great deal more than most people about the muscles of your body.