pectoral (adj.)

1570s, "of or pertaining to the breast or chest," from Latin pectoralis "of the breast," from pectus (genitive pectoris) "breast, chest," a word of unknown origin. De Vaan considers Old Irish ucht "breast, chest" as "a likely cognate, if it reflects earler *pektu-." Pectoral muscle is attested from 1610s.

also from 1570s

pectoral (n.)

early 15c., "ornament worn on the breast," from Old French pectoral and directly from Latin pectorale "breastplate," noun use of neuter of adjective pectoralis (see pectoral (adj.)). Related: Pectorally. As a shortened form of pectoral muscle, attested from 1758. Slang shortening pec for this is first recorded 1966. Related: Pectorals; pecs.

also from early 15c.

Entries linking to pectoral

angina (n.)

1570s, "severe inflammatory infection of the throat," from Latin angina "infection of the throat, quinsy," literally "a strangling," from Greek ankhonē "a strangling" (from PIE root *angh- "tight, painfully constricted, painful"); probably influenced in Latin by angere "to throttle." Angina pectoris "acute, constricting pain in the chest" is from 1744, from Latin pectoris, genitive of pectus "chest" (see pectoral (adj.)). Related: Anginal.

expectorate (v.)

c. 1600, "to clear out the chest or lungs," a literal use of Latin expectoratus, past participle of expectorare, which in classical use was figurative, "scorn, expel from the mind," literally "drive from the breast, make a clean breast," from ex "out" (see ex-) + pectus (genitive pectoris) "breast" (see pectoral (adj.)). Its use as a euphemism for "spit" is recorded by 1827. The classical Latin figurative sense appears in English 17c. but is now obsolete. Related: Expectorated; expectorating.

parapet (n.)

1580s, "wall or rampart rising breast-high," from French parapet "breastwork" (16c.), or directly from Italian parapetto, from para- "defense" (see para- (2)) + petto "breast," from Latin pectus (see pectoral (adj.)). Meaning "low wall at the edge of a structure to keep people from falling off" is from 1590s.

Trends of pectoral

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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belly-dance

It might with equal candor be called the Lumbar Wriggle [or] the Pectoral Squirm, for this curious Arab almeh possesses the...

chest

Middle English chest, from Old English cest "box, coffer, casket," usually large and with a hinged lid, from Proto-Germanic *kista (source also of Old Norse and Old High German kista, Old Frisian, Middle Dutch, German kiste, Dutch kist). This is an early borrowing from Latin cist

muscle

"contractible animal tissue consisting of bundles of fibers," late 14c., "a muscle of the body," from Latin musculus "a muscle," literally "a little mouse," diminutive of mus "mouse" (see mouse (n.)). So called because the shape and movement of some muscles (notably biceps) were

alibi

1743, "a plea of having been elsewhere when an action took place," from Latin alibi (adv.) "elsewhere, somewhere else," locative of alius "another, other, different" (from PIE root *al- (1) "beyond"). The weakened sense of "excuse" is attested since 1912, but technically any proo

kangaroo

"large marsupial mammal of Australia," 1770, used by Capt. Cook and botanist Joseph Banks (who first reported the species to Europeans), supposedly representing a native word from northeast Queensland, Australia, but often said to be unknown now in any native language. However, a

clothes-horse

also clothes horse, "upright wooden frame for hanging clothes to dry," 1788, from clothes + horse (n.) in its secondary sense "that upon which something is mounted." Figurative sense of "person whose sole function seems to be to show off clothes" is 1850. Clothes-screen, which ha

forgive

Old English forgiefan "give, grant, allow; remit (a debt), pardon (an offense)," also "give up" and "give in marriage" (past tense forgeaf, past participle forgifen); from for-, here probably "completely," + giefan "to give" (from PIE root *ghabh- "to give or receive"). The sense

hustle

1680s (trans.), "to shake to and fro" (especially of money in a cap, as part of a game called hustle-cap), metathesized from Dutch hutselen, husseln "to shake, to toss," frequentative of hutsen, variant of hotsen "to shake." "The stems hot-, hut- appear in a number of formations

fork

Old English forca, force "pitchfork, forked instrument, forked weapon," from a Germanic borrowing (Old Frisian forke, Dutch vork, Old Norse forkr, Danish fork) of Latin furca "two-pronged fork; pitchfork; fork used in cooking," a word of uncertain origin. Old English also had for

art

early 13c., "skill as a result of learning or practice," from Old French art (10c.), from Latin artem (nominative ars) "work of art; practical skill; a business, craft," from PIE *ar(ə)-ti- (source also of Sanskrit rtih "manner, mode;" Greek artizein "to prepare"), suffixed form

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updated on March 11, 2020

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Dictionary entries near pectoral

pecking

peckish

Pecksniffian

pectin

pectinate

pectoral

peculate

peculation

peculiar

peculiarity

pecuniary