biceps

What it means

1. anatomyAny muscle having two heads.

   The leg is bent by the action of the flexor muscles situated on the back of the thigh, the chief of these being called the biceps of the leg.

   1901, Michael Foster, Lewis E. Shore, Physiology for Beginners, page 73

2. Specifically, the biceps brachii, the flexor of the elbow.

   The arm muscles are the show muscles of the physique. When someone asks to "see your muscles," they are most likely referring to your arms, and more specifically, your biceps.

   1996, Robert Kennedy, Dwayne Hines II, Animal Arms, page 21

3. informalThe upper arm, especially the collective muscles of the upper arm.

   Today, Stonewall's flexed biceps measure 18 inches around.

   1964 Dec, “Muscles are His Business”, in Ebony, volume 20, number 2, page 147

   2 more examples

   Biting her lip, she held his biceps for balance and waded farther.

   2005, Lisa Plumley, Once Upon a Christmas, page 144

   Odin examined the arm-ring, then pushed it onto his arm, up high on his biceps.

   2017, Neil Gaiman, Norse Mythology, Bloomsbury Publishing, page 42

   Synonyms: guns, pipes, pythons

In a sentence

The leg is bent by the action of the flexor muscles situated on the back of the thigh, the chief of these being called the biceps of the leg.

1901, Michael Foster, Lewis E. Shore, Physiology for Beginners, page 73

Where it comes from

1. Proto-Indo-European*dwóh₁
2. Proto-Indo-European*trísinflu.
3. Proto-Indo-European*dwís
4. Proto-Italic*dwis
5. Old Latinduis
6. Latinbis
7. Proto-Indo-European*kap-?
8. Proto-Indo-European*kap-
9. Proto-Indo-European*káput
10. Proto-Italic*kaput
11. Latinbiceps
12. Englishbiceps

Derived from Latin biceps (“double-headed, two-peaked”), from bis (“twice”) + -ceps (“headed”).