muscular

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin or New Latin mūsculāris in the 17th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmʌs.kjə.lə/, /ˈmʌs.kjʊ.lə/
• IPA^(key): /ˈmʌs.kjə.lɚ/, /ˈmʌs.kju.lɚ/

Adjective

muscular (comparative more muscular, superlative most muscular)

1. Of, relating to, or connected with muscles.
   • 1912 February–July, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “Under the Moons of Mars”, in The All-Story, New York, N.Y.: Frank A. Munsey Co., →OCLC; republished as “The Escape of the Dead”, in A Princess of Mars, Chicago, Ill.: A[lexander] C[aldwell] McClurg & Co., 1917 October, →OCLC, page 18:

     It was an effort of the mind, of the will, of the nerves; not muscular, for I could not move even so much as my little finger, but none the less mighty for all that.

2. Brawny, thewy, having strength.

   Synonyms: athletic, beefy, brawny, husky, lusty, muscled, muscly, powerful, strapping, strong

   • 1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Two. The First of the Three Spirits.”, in A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 43:

     It was a strange figure—like a child: yet not so like a child as like an old man, [...] The arms were very long and muscular; the hands the same, as if its hold were of uncommon strength.

3. Having large, well-developed muscles.

   Synonyms: beefy, brawny, buff, husky, musclebound, muscled, muscly, powerfully built, swole, well-built

4. (figurative) Robust, strong.
   • 2014 July 9, Samanth Subramanian, “India after English?”, in The New York Review of Books‎^[1], archived from the original on 10 September 2019:

     Future prime ministers may struggle to replicate the sort of muscular countrywide support that [Narendra] Modi was able to earn.

Derived terms

• Becker muscular dystrophy
• bimuscular
• cardiomuscular
• corticomuscular
• cutaneomuscular
• electromuscular
• epimuscular
• epitheliomuscular
• extramuscular
• faciomuscular
• faradomuscular
• fibromuscular
• hepatocardiomuscular
• hypermuscular
• idiomuscular
• intermuscular
• intramuscular
• ligamentomuscular
• most muscular
• muscular Christianity
• muscular dystrophy
• muscular endurance
• muscularity
• muscularize
• muscularly
• muscularness
• muscular pile
• nervomuscular
• neuromuscular
• nonmuscular
• osseomuscular
• osteomuscular
• paramuscular
• perimuscular
• premuscular
• promuscular
• psychoneuromuscular
• retromuscular
• seromuscular
• skeletomuscular
• submuscular
• tendinomuscular
• tendomuscular
• transmuscular
• unimuscular
• unmuscular

 

Related terms

• muscularity
• musculature

 

Translations

of or relating to muscles

• Albanian: muskulor (sq)
• Catalan: muscular (ca)
• Czech: svalový (cs) m
• Danish: muskulær
• Dutch: musculair (nl), spier- (nl)
• Estonian: lihase-, lihaseline
• Finnish: lihas- (fi)
• French: musculaire (fr)
• Galician: muscular
• German: muskulär (de), Muskel- (de)
• Hungarian: izmos (hu)
• Icelandic: vöðva- (is)
• Irish: matánach, muscalach
• Italian: muscolare (it)
• Maori: pūioio
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: muskulær

  Nynorsk: muskulær

• Polish: mięśniowy (pl)
• Portuguese: muscular (pt)
• Romanian: muscular (ro), mușchiular (ro)
• Russian: мы́шечный (ru) (mýšečnyj), му́скульный (ru) (múskulʹnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: мѝшӣћнӣ

  Roman: mìšīćnī

• Slovak: svalovný
• Spanish: muscular (es)
• Swedish: muskel-, muskulär (sv)
• Welsh: cyhyrog (cy)

having strength

• Albanian: muskuloz
• Catalan: musculós
• Czech: svalnatý (cs)
• Danish: muskuløs
• Dutch: gespierd (nl)
• Finnish: lihaksikas (fi)
• French: musclé (fr), musculeux (fr)
• Galician: musculoso
• German: muskulös (de)
• Hungarian: izmos (hu)
• Icelandic: vöðvastæltur (is), vöðvamikill, (informal) massaður
• Irish: matánach, urrúnta
• Italian: muscoloso (it)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Maori: pūioio, mārōrō
• Polish: umięśniony (pl), muskularny (pl)
• Portuguese: musculoso (pt)
• Romanian: mușchiulos (ro), musculos (ro)
• Russian: мускули́стый (ru) (muskulístyj), си́льный (ru) (sílʹnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: мѝшићав, му̏скуло̄зан

  Roman: mìšićav (sh), mȕskulōzan (sh)

• Slovak: svalnatý (sk)
• Spanish: musculoso (es)
• Swedish: muskulös (sv)
• Welsh: cyhyrog (cy)

having large, well-developed muscles

• Bengali: পেশিবহুল (peshibôhul), পেশীবহুল (peshibôhul)
• Catalan: musculós
• Danish: muskuløs
• Dutch: gespierd (nl)
• Estonian: lihaseline
• Finnish: lihaksikas (fi)
• Hungarian: izmos (hu)
• Irish: matánach
• Italian: muscoloso (it)
• Latin: torōsus
• Malay: berotot
• Maori: pakari, tuakaka, kōpaka
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: muskuløs (no)

  Nynorsk: muskuløs

• Portuguese: musculoso (pt)
• Russian: мускули́стый (ru) (muskulístyj)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: му̏скуло̄зан

  Roman: mȕskulōzan (sh)

• Swedish: muskulös (sv)
• Turkish: kaslı (tr)
• Welsh: cyhyrog (cy)

(figuratively) strong, robust

• Irish: matánach
• Maori: pakari
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Welsh: cyhyrog (cy)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Georgian: ^{(please verify)} კუნთიანი (ḳuntiani)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

See also

• myo-

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Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin or New Latin mūsculāris

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [mus.kuˈla]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [mus.kuˈlaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ

Adjective

muscular m or f (masculine and feminine plural musculars)

1. muscular (of, relating to, or connected with muscles)

Related terms

• múscul

Further reading

• “muscular” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “muscular”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “muscular” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “muscular” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

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Galician

Adjective

muscular m or f (plural musculares)

1. muscular (of, relating to, or connected with muscles)

Related terms

• músculo

Further reading

• “muscular”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, since 2012

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Interlingua

Adjective

muscular (not comparable)

1. muscular

Related terms

• musculo

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Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin or New Latin mūsculāris

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /muʃ.ku.ˈlaɾ/
• Hyphenation: mus‧cu‧lar

Adjective

1. muscular (of or relating to muscles)

Related terms

• músculo

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Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin or New Latin mūsculāris

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /muskuˈlaɾ/ [mus.kuˈlaɾ]

Adjective

muscular m or f (masculine and feminine plural musculares)

1. muscular (of, relating to, or connected with muscles)

Derived terms

• fortalecimiento muscular
• perimuscular
• tono muscular

Related terms

• músculo

Further reading

• “muscular”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014