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”). See there for more details.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈbaɪ.sɛps/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

biceps (plural biceps or bicepses or bicipites)

1. (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.

2. 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.

3. (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.

   • 2017, Neil Gaiman, Norse Mythology, Bloomsbury Publishing, page 42:

     Odin examined the arm-ring, then pushed it onto his arm, up high on his biceps.

4. (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

• (antonym(s) of “prosody”): princeps

Derived terms

• back double biceps
• bicep
• bicep 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-raʔsayn)

  Egyptian Arabic: ذات الرأسين f (zāt er-raʔsēn)

• Armenian: բիցեպս (bicʻeps), 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 (gl) m
• Georgian: ბიცეფსი (bicepsi)
• German: Bizeps (de) m
• Ido: bicepso (io)
• Italian: bicipite (it) m
• Japanese: 二頭筋 (ja) (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: daga-dagaan
• Turkish: iki başlı (tr)

biceps brachii — see biceps brachii

the upper arm, especially the muscles

• Arabic: ذَات اَلرَّأْسَيْن اَلْعَضُدِيَّة f (ḏāt ar-raʔsayn al-ʕaḍudiyya)

  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 (Netherlands):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: bi‧ceps
• Rhymes: -isɛps

Noun

biceps m (plural bicepsen, diminutive bicepsje n)

1. (anatomy) biceps; any two-headed muscle
2. 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

See also

• tweekoppige

French

Etymology

From Latin biceps (“double-headed”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bi.sɛps/

Noun

biceps m (plural biceps)

1. (anatomy) biceps (any two-headed muscle)
2. 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

Further reading

• “biceps”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Latin

aquila biceps (double-headed eagle)

Alternative forms

• bicapitēs
• bicipēs

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈbi.keps/, [ˈbɪkɛps̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈbi.t͡ʃeps/, [ˈbiːt͡ʃeps]

Adjective

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

1. 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

2. (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

3. (of swords) double-edged
   • Late 4th century, Jerome [et al.], transl., edited by Roger Gryson, Biblia Sacra: Iuxta Vulgatam Versionem (Vulgate), 5th edition, Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, published 2007, →ISBN, 5:4b:

     Acuta quasi gladius biceps.

     As sharp as a two-edged sword.

4. (by extension) divided into two parts

Declension

Third-declension one-termination adjective.

	singular			plural
	masc./fem.	neuter		masc./fem.	neuter
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. First attested in 1810.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbi.t͡sɛps/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -it͡sɛps
• Syllabification: bi‧ceps

Noun

biceps m inan

1. biceps brachii

   Synonyms: bicek, buła

   prężyć bicepsy ― to flex one's biceps

   • 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!

Declension

Declension of biceps

	singular	plural
nominative	biceps	bicepsy
genitive	bicepsa/bicepsu	bicepsów
dative	bicepsowi	bicepsom
accusative	biceps	bicepsy
instrumental	bicepsem	bicepsami
locative	bicepsie	bicepsach
vocative	bicepsie	bicepsy

Further reading

• biceps in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• biceps in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian

Etymology

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

Noun

biceps m (plural bicepși)

1. biceps; any two-headed muscle
2. the biceps brachii

Declension

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	biceps	bicepsul		bicepși	bicepșii
genitive-dative	biceps	bicepsului		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)

1. 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 [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2024