muscle over the back of the neck, 1704, from Modern Latin trapezius (musculus), masc. adjective from trapezium (see trapezium). So called from the shape they form.
Entries linking to trapezius
trapezium n.
1560s, from Late Latin trapezium, from Greek trapezion "irregular quadrilateral," literally "a little table," diminutive of trapeza "table, dining table," from tra- "four" (from PIE root *kwetwer- "four") + peza "foot, edge," related to pous, from PIE root *ped- "foot." Before 1540s, Latin editions of Euclid used the Arabic-derived word helmuariphe, helmuaripha. As the name of a bone in the wrist, it is recorded from 1840.