biceps

See also: bíceps

English

Biceps brachii; the biceps of the arm.

Etymology

PIE word
*dwóh₁

From Latin biceps (“double-headed, two peaked”), from bis (“double”) + caput (“head”).

Pronunciation

(UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈbaɪ.sɛps/
Audio (US) (file)

Noun

biceps (plural biceps or bicepses)

(anatomy) Any muscle having two heads.
- 1901, Michael Foster & Lewis E. Shore, Physiology for Beginners, page 73
  The leg is bent by the action of the flexor muscles situated on the back of the thigh, the chief of these being called the biceps of the leg.
Specifically, the biceps brachii, the flexor of the elbow.
- 1996, Robert Kennedy & Dwayne Hines II, Animal Arms, page 21
  The arm muscles are the show muscles of the physique. When someone asks to "see your muscles," they are most likely referring to your arms, and more specifically, your biceps.
(informal) The upper arm, especially the collective muscles of the upper arm.
- 1964 Dec, “Muscles are His Business”, in Ebony, volume 20, number 2, page 147:
  Today, Stonewall's flexed biceps measure 18 inches around.
- 2005, Lisa Plumley, Once Upon a Christmas, page 144
  Biting her lip, she held his biceps for balance and waded farther.
(prosody) A point in a metrical pattern that can be filled either with one long syllable (a longum) or two short syllables (two brevia)
- 1987, Martin Litchfield West, Introduction to Greek Metre:
  Also it is advisable to distinguish this ( ˘ ˘ ) — ˘ ˘ — rhythm, where the princeps was probably shorter in duration than the biceps (as in the dactylic hexameter), from true (marching) anapaests, in which they were equal.
- 2000, James I. Porter, Nietzsche and the Philology of the Future, page 347
  This means that in the metrical sequence […] recited in ordinary speech rhythm, the princeps occupied a slightly shorter time than the biceps (5:6), and if a long syllable was used to fill the biceps it had to be dragged a little […]

Usage notes

Now often mistaken as a plural form; see bicep. An archaic plural bicipites, borrowed from the Latin, also exists.

Synonyms

(the biceps brachii): biceps brachii, biceps cubiti
(the upper arm): guns, pipes, pythons, upper arm

Antonyms

(prosody): princeps

Derived terms

back double biceps
bicep
biceps curl
biceps femoris
double biceps
front double biceps
gluteobiceps
rear double biceps

Related terms

biceps brachii
biceps cubiti
biceps femoris
bicipital
triceps
quadriceps

Translations

any muscle having two heads

Arabic: ذَات اَلرَّأْسَيْن‎ f (ḏāt ar-raʾsayn)
Egyptian Arabic: ذات الرأسين‎ f (zāt er-raʾsēn)
Armenian: բիցեպս (bicʿeps), երկգլուխ մկան (hy) (erkglux mkan)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 二頭肌／二头肌 (zh) (èrtóujī), 肱二頭肌／肱二头肌 (zh) (gōng'èrtóujī)
Czech: biceps (cs) m
Dutch: biceps (nl) m
Finnish: kaksipäinen lihas
French: biceps (fr) m
Galician: bíceps m
Georgian: ბიცეფსი (bicepsi)
German: Bizeps (de) m
Ido: bicepso (io)
Italian: bicipite (it) m
Japanese: 二頭筋 (にとうきん, nitōkin)
Korean: 이두근 (idugeun)
Maori: uarua
Marathi: द्विशिरस्का f (dviśiraskā)
Portuguese: bíceps (pt)
Romanian: biceps (ro) m
Russian: би́цепс (ru) m (bíceps)
Spanish: bíceps m
Tagalog: dagadagaan
Turkish: iki başlı (tr)

biceps brachii — see biceps brachii

the upper arm, especially the muscles

Arabic: ذَات اَلرَّأْسَيْن اَلْعَضُدِيَّة‎ f (ḏāt ar-raʾsayn al-ʿaḍudiyya)
Egyptian Arabic: باي‎ f (bāy)
Dutch: armbuigspier f, biceps (nl) m, elleboogbuiger m
Finnish: hauis (fi), olkavarsi (fi)
Hebrew: קִבֹּרֶת‎ (he) f (qibóret)
Latin: lacertus m
Turkish: pazı (tr)

(prosody) point in a metrical poem

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin biceps (“two-headed”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈbi.sɛps/
Audio (NL) (file)
Hyphenation: bi‧ceps
Rhymes: -isɛps

Noun

biceps m (plural bicepsen, diminutive bicepsje n)

(anatomy) biceps; any two-headed muscle
the biceps brachii
- 2007, C. A. Bastiaanssen, Anatomie en Fysiologie, page 387
  De biceps en de triceps zijn elkaars antagonisten.
  The biceps and the triceps are each other's antagonist.

Synonyms

(biceps brachii): armbuigspier, elleboogbuiger, spierbal

Descendants

→ Indonesian: biseps

French

Etymology

From Latin biceps (“double-headed”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /bi.sɛps/

Noun

biceps m (plural biceps)

(anatomy) biceps (any two-headed muscle)
the biceps brachii
- 1978, Freddy Buache, Cinéma Anglais, page 154
  Mais Bronson se définit uniquement par son physique (biceps, démarche souple) et non par la densité de sa présence ce qui limite ses possibilités d'emploi.
  But Bronson is defined only by his physique (biceps, supple gait) and not by the density of his presence which limits his employment possibilities.

Derived terms

avoir du biceps
biceps brachial
biceps crural
biceps fémoral

Latin

aquila biceps (double-headed eagle)

Alternative forms

bicapitēs
bicipēs

Etymology

From bis (“twice”) +‎ -ceps (“headed”).

Pronunciation

(Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈbi.keps/, [ˈbɪkɛps̠]

(Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈbi.t͡ʃeps/, [ˈbiːt͡ʃeps]
Audio (Classical) (file)
Audio (Ecclesiastical) (file)

Adjective

biceps (genitive bicipitis); third-declension one-termination adjective

double-headed, having two heads
- 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 1.65:
  Iane biceps, anni tacite labentis origo.
  Two-headed Janus, source of the quietly passing year
(of mountains) having two summits or peaks
- 8 CE, Ovid, Metamorphoses 2.221:
  Ardet in inmensum geminatis ignibus Aetne
  Parnasosque biceps et Eryx et Cynthus et Othrys.
  Aetna blazes in immense doubled flames
  and twin-peaked Parnasus and Eryx, Cynthus and Othrys
(of swords) double-edged
- 405, Jerome and others, Vulgate, Proverbia 5:4b
  Acuta quasi gladius biceps.
  As sharp as a two-edged sword.
(by extension) divided into two parts

Declension

Third-declension one-termination adjective.

Case / Gender	Masc./Fem.	Neuter	Masc./Fem.	Neuter
Number	Singular		Plural
Nominative	biceps		bicipitēs	bicipitia
Genitive	bicipitis		bicipitium
Dative	bicipitī		bicipitibus
Accusative	bicipitem	biceps	bicipitēs	bicipitia
Ablative	bicipitī		bicipitibus
Vocative	biceps		bicipitēs	bicipitia

Synonyms

(double-headed): anceps

Related terms

anceps
caput
centiceps
triceps

Descendants

Asturian: bíceps
Catalan: bíceps
English: biceps, bicipital
French: biceps
Galician: bíceps
Italian: bicipite
Piedmontese: bicìpi
Portuguese: bíceps
Romanian: biceps
Spanish: bíceps

References

“biceps”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“biceps”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers

Polish

Biceps

Etymology

Borrowed from German Bizeps, from Latin biceps (“two-headed”).[1] First attested in 1810.[2][3]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈbi.t͡sɛps/
Audio (file)
Rhymes: -it͡sɛps
Syllabification: bi‧ceps

Noun

biceps m inan

biceps brachii
- 1970, Stanisław Lorentz, Walka o Dobra Kultury, Warszawa 1939-1945, volume 2, page 27:
  I właśnie wtedy przyszło mi na myśl uratowanie prasy powstańczej, którą bardzo troskliwie zbierałem do 2 września, to jest do dnia podpalenia naszego domu, a jednocześnie dnia, kiedy zostałem ranny w prawy biceps.
  And that's exactly when I had the idea to save the uprising press that I very carefully collected until the second of September, that's before the day when our house caught fire, and simultaneously the day when I was injured in my right biceps.
- 1994, “Dialog: Miesięcznik Poświęcony Dramaturgii Współczesnej”, in Związek Literatów Polskich, page 13:
  Podwija rękaw i napina starczy biceps.
  LEO: Dziękuję, stąd widzę.
  STARZEC (klepie się po bicepsie): Niebywałe!
  He [Starzec] rolls up his sleeve and tenses elderly biceps.
  LEO: Thanks, I see it from here.
  STARZEC (taps himself on the biceps): Unheard of!
Synonyms: bicek, buła
prężyć bicepsy ― to flex one's biceps

Declension

Declension of m-in

	singular	plural
nominative	m-in	—
genitive	bicepsa	—
dative	—	—
accusative	—	—
instrumental	—	—
locative	—	—
vocative	—	—

References

Mirosław Bańko; Lidia Wiśniakowska (2021) Wielki słownik wyrazów obcych, →ISBN
Georg Prochaska (1810) Zasady fizyologii ludzkiej. T. 2‎, page 237
biceps in Narodowy Fotokorpus Języka Polskiego

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French biceps, from Latin biceps (“two-headed”).

Noun

biceps m (plural bicepși)

biceps; any two-headed muscle
the biceps brachii

Declension

Declension of biceps

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) biceps	bicepsul	(niște) bicepși	bicepșii
genitive/dative	(unui) biceps	bicepsului	(unor) bicepși	bicepșilor
vocative	bicepsule		bicepșilor

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From Latin biceps (“two-headed”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /bǐt͡seps/
Hyphenation: bi‧ceps

Noun

bìceps m (Cyrillic spelling бѝцепс)

biceps

Declension

Declension of biceps

	singular	plural
nominative	bìceps	bicepsi
genitive	bicepsa	bȉcēpsā
dative	bicepsu	bicepsima
accusative	biceps	bicepse
vocative	bicepse	bicepsi
locative	bicepsu	bicepsima
instrumental	bicepsom	bicepsima

References

“biceps” in Hrvatski jezični portal

[1] Mirosław Bańko; Lidia Wiśniakowska (2021) Wielki słownik wyrazów obcych, →ISBN

[2] Georg Prochaska (1810) Zasady fizyologii ludzkiej. T. 2‎, page 237

[3] s in Narodowy Fotokorpus Języka Polskiego

biceps

English

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Usage notes

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Dutch

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Synonyms

Descendants

See also

French

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Derived terms

Further reading

Latin

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adjective

Declension

Synonyms

Related terms

Descendants

References

Polish

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Declension

References

Further reading

Romanian

Etymology

Noun

Declension

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Declension

References