muscle

Etymology

Recorded from the late 14th century,^[1] borrowed from Latin mūsculus (“muscle, literally little mouse”),^[1][2] partly via Middle French muscle,^[3] diminutive of Latin mūs (“mouse”).^[4][5] Some muscles were thought to resemble a mouse in shape;^[5][2] Greek likewise used mys for both “mouse” and “muscle”.^[1]

Doublet of mussel.^[3]

References

1. [1] [2] [3] Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
2. [1] [2] Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
3. [1] [2] Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
4. [1] The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Boston: Houghton Mifflin
5. [1] [2] Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press