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mus·cu·lar (mŭskyə-lər)
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adj.
1. Of, relating to, or consisting of muscle: muscular contraction.
2. Having well-developed muscles: a muscular build.
3. Having or suggesting great forcefulness, especially at the expense of subtlety: muscular reasoning that does not bother with the finer points; muscular advocacy groups.
[From Latin mūsculus, muscle; see MUSCLE.]
mus′cu·lari·ty (-lărĭ-tē) n.
muscu·lar·ly adv.
Synonyms: muscular, brawny, burly, sinewy
These adjectives mean strong and powerfully built: a muscular build; brawny arms; a burly stevedore; a lean and sinewy frame.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2020 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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