musculaire

Forms

musculaire (plural musculaires)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin musculus (“muscle”) with the suffix -aire, a learned formation.^[2][3][4][5] Littré and Wiktionary also point to the Latin adjective muscularis.^[6][1] The noun muscle goes back to the same Latin word.^[5][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1698, in Dionis's L'Anatomie de l'homme, describing various arteries and veins of the rear muscles of the neck, the loins and the thigh.^[2][3][7]

Semantic evolution

The general sense “relating to the muscles” is recorded in the Encyclopédie in 1765.^[2][3][7] In the 19th century the word entered the phrases système musculaire (1805), the whole set of muscles, and sens musculaire (1855), the sense that informs the nerve centres from the muscles, ligaments and tendons.^[2][3][7] It gave the adverb musculairement (1919) and the rare noun muscularité.^[3]

Timeline

• 1698 – Dionis uses it of veins and arteries of certain muscles.^[2][3]
• 1765 – The Encyclopédie has the general sense “relating to the muscles”.^[2][7]
• 1805 – Destutt de Tracy writes système musculaire.^[2][3]
• 1855 – Sens musculaire appears in the Littré–Robin medical dictionary.^[2]
• 1919 – The adverb musculairement is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Relating to the muscles, their structure or their activity: tissu musculaire, force musculaire, contraction musculaire.^[8][2][7]
2. Système musculaire: the whole set of muscles of the body, the musculature.^[8][7]
3. Sens musculaire: the sensitivity located in the muscles, ligaments and tendons.^[7]

Word family

• musculairement

Related words

• muscle
• musculature
• musculeux
• musculation
• Latin musculus

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert