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Origin and history of triceps

triceps(n.)

the great extensor muscle, 1704, from Latin triceps "three-headed," from tri- "three" (see tri-) + -ceps, from caput "head" (from PIE root *kaput- "head"). So called because the muscle has three origins. The classical plural is tricipites. Earlier the word was used in English as an adjective, "three-headed," in reference to Cerberus (1570s).

also from 1704

Entries linking to triceps

*kaput-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "head."

It might form all or part of: achieve; behead; biceps; cabbage; cabochon; caddie; cadet; cap; cap-a-pie; cape (n.1) "garment;" cape (n.2) "promontory;" capital (adj.); capital (n.3) "head of a column or pillar;" capitate; capitation; capitulate; capitulation; capitulum; capo (n.1) "leader of a Mafia family;" capo (n.2) "pitch-altering device for a stringed instrument;" caprice; capsize; captain; cattle; caudillo; chapter; chef; chief; chieftain; corporal (n.); decapitate; decapitation; forehead; head; hetman; kaput; kerchief; mischief; occipital; precipice; precipitate; precipitation; recapitulate; recapitulation; sinciput; triceps.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit kaput-; Latin caput "head;" Old English heafod, German Haupt, Gothic haubiþ "head."

tri-

word-forming element of Latin and Greek origin meaning "three, having three, once every three," from Latin tres (neuter tria) or Greek trias, treis "three" (see three). "The i, etymologically short in Greek and Latin, was in Latin sometimes lengthened, esp. in numerals" [OED, 1989].

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    Trends of triceps

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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    barren
    c. 1200, "incapable of producing its kind" (of female animals, plants), from Old French baraigne, baraing "sterile, barren" (12c.), perhaps originally brahain, a word of obscure derivation, possibly from a Germanic language. Its use in reference to males is rare. Of land, "produc
    etiquette
    1750, from French étiquette "prescribed behavior," from Old French estiquette "label, ticket" (see ticket (n.)). The sense development in French perhaps is from small cards written or printed with instructions for how to behave properly at court (compare Italian etichetta, Spanis
    loo
    "lavatory," 1940, but perhaps 1922 (based on a pun of Joyce's); perhaps [Dictionary of American Slang] from French lieux d'aisances "lavatory," literally "place of ease," picked up by British servicemen in France during World War I. Or possibly a pun on Waterloo, based on water c
    person
    c. 1200, persoun, "an individual, a human being," from Old French persone "human being, anyone, person" (12c., Modern French personne) and directly from Latin persona "human being, person, personage; a part in a drama, assumed character," originally "a mask, a false face," such a
    desert
    c. 1600, transitive, "to leave, abandon," either in a good or bad sense; 1640s, in reference to military service or duty, "leave without permission;" from French déserter "cause to leave," literally "undo or sever connection," from Late Latin desertare, frequentative of Latin des
    cantankerous
    "marked by ill-tempered contradiction or opposition," 1772, said by Grose to be "a Wiltshire word," conjectured to be from an alteration (influenced perhaps by raucous) of a dialectal survival of Middle English contakour "troublemaker" (c. 1300), which is from Anglo-French contec
    office
    mid-13c., "a post in government or administration, an employment to which certain duties are attached, secular position of authority or responsibility," from Anglo-French and Old French ofice "place or function; divine service" (12c. in Old French) and directly from Latin officiu
    python
    1580s, name of a fabled serpent, slain by Apollo near Delphi, from Latin Python, from Greek Pythōn "serpent slain by Apollo," probably related to Pythō, the old name of Delphi. Chaucer has it (late 14c.) as Phitoun. This might be related to pythein "to rot," or from PIE *dhubh-(o
    postulate
    1530s, "nominate to a church office," from Medieval Latin postulatus, past participle of postulare "to ask, demand; claim; require," probably formed from past participle of Latin poscere "ask urgently, demand," from *posk-to-, Italic inchoative of PIE root *prek- "to ask question
    penny
    English coin, Middle English peni, from Old English pening, penig, Northumbrian penning "penny," from Proto-Germanic *panninga- (source also of Old Norse penningr, Swedish pänning, Danish penge, Old Frisian panning, Old Saxon pending, Middle Dutch pennic, Dutch penning, Old High

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    Dictionary entries near triceps
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