musculous

Meanings

adjectivemusculous (comparative more musculous, superlative most musculous)

comparative more musculous · superlative most musculous

archaicrelationalMade up of muscle or muscle tissue; muscular.First known use 15th c.
[T]he rest of the capacity of the clusters was […] in others fill'd with some kind of substance; in blue Flies, with a reddish musculous substance, with fibres tending from the center or bottom outwards […].
1665, Robert Hooke, Micrographia: Or Some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies Made by Magnifying Glasses with Observations and Inquiries Thereupon, Observ. XXXIX. Of the Eyes and Head of a Grey drone-Fly, and of several other creatures, page 177
archaicCharacterised by well-developed muscles; muscular, muscly.First known use 17th c.
obsoleterelationalPertaining to muscle; involving the use of muscles; muscular.First known use 17th–18th c.

Origin

Latinmūsculōsus“muscular, fleshy”
Middle Frenchmusculeux“composed of muscle”
Englishmusculous

From late Middle English, from Middle French musculeux (“composed of muscle”), from Latin mūsculōsus (“muscular, fleshy”), from mūsculus (“a little mouse; a muscle”) + -ōsus (“-ous, -ose”, adjectival suffix).

More words from Middle French, Latin

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