Muscular System Terms by Lillian Collins

1. abduction

lc37278 — 2025-08-27 13:33:27 UTC

moving a body part away from the midline

2. adduction

lc37278 — 2025-08-27 13:35:03 UTC

moving a body part towards the midline

3. cardiac muscle

lc37278 — 2025-08-27 13:36:01 UTC

forms the walls of the heart and contracts to circulate blood

4. circumduction

lc37278 — 2025-08-27 13:37:50 UTC

moving in a circle at a joint, or moving one end of a body part in a circle with the other end remains stationary

5. contract

lc37278 — 2025-08-27 13:40:46 UTC

becoming short and thick, which causes movement

6. contractibility

lc37278 — 2025-08-27 13:42:29 UTC

muscle fiber that are stimulated by nerves contract, or become short and thick, which causes movement

7. contracture

lc37278 — 2025-08-27 13:44:17 UTC

a permanent shortening and tightening of the muscle

8. dorsiflexion

lc37278 — 2025-08-27 13:45:06 UTC

bending backward or bending the foot towards the knee

9. elasticity

lc37278 — 2025-08-27 13:46:25 UTC

allows the muscle to return to its original shape after it has contracted or stretched

10. excitability

lc37278 — 2025-08-27 13:47:28 UTC

irritability, the ability to respond to a stimulus such as a nerve impulse

11. extensibility

lc37278 — 2025-08-27 13:49:21 UTC

the ability to be stretched

12. extension

lc37278 — 2025-08-27 13:50:28 UTC

increasing the angle between two bones, or straightening a body part

13. fascia

lc37278 — 2025-08-27 13:51:13 UTC

a tough, sheetlike membrane that covers and protects the tissue

14. flexion

lc37278 — 2025-08-27 13:53:00 UTC

decreasing the angle between two bones, or bending a body part

15. insertion

lc37278 — 2025-08-27 13:54:05 UTC

the end that moves when the muscle contracts is called the insertion

16. involuntary

lc37278 — 2025-08-27 13:55:17 UTC

meaning they function without conscious thought or control

17. muscle tone

lc37278 — 2025-08-27 13:59:28 UTC

muscles are partially contracted at all times, even when not in use, this state of partial contraction is called muscle tone

18. muscular system

lc37278 — 2025-08-27 14:00:28 UTC

more than 600 muscles make up the system known as the muscular system, bundles of muscle fibers held together by connective tissue

19. origin

lc37278 — 2025-08-27 14:02:14 UTC

when a muscle attaches to a bone, the end that does not move is called the origin

20. plantar flexion

lc37278 — 2025-08-28 02:30:46 UTC

bending forward or bending the foot away from the knee

21. pronation

lc37278 — 2025-08-28 02:31:25 UTC

turning a body part downward

22. rotation

lc37278 — 2025-08-28 02:32:26 UTC

turning a body part around its own axis; for example, turning the head from side to side

23. skeletal muscle

lc37278 — 2025-08-28 02:33:48 UTC

is attached to bones and causes body movement, this muscle is voluntary

24. supination

lc37278 — 2025-08-28 02:35:34 UTC

turning a body part upward

25. tendons

lc37278 — 2025-08-28 02:37:26 UTC

skeletal muscles attach to bones in different ways, some attach by tendons

26. visceral ( smooth) muscle

lc37278 — 2025-08-28 02:38:12 UTC

27. voluntary

lc37278 — 2025-08-28 02:40:02 UTC

skeletal muscle is voluntary because a person has control over its action