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Glite Dictionary
🦾 A stabilizing device 💪 A stabilizing muscle
fixator

fixator

8.1
A muscle that keeps a joint or body part steady during movement
  • noun
  • /ˈfɪkˌseɪtər/
  • Specialized
translation icon : fijador
  • The rotator cuff muscles act as fixators to stabilize the shoulder joint during overhead movements.

Examples

  • When lifting weights, fixators help keep your elbows steady to avoid injury.

  • At the end of the semester, students knew not only how to identify "fixators and synergists for joint movement," they could also relate personally to the critical issues surrounding the provision of health care in their own communities.

    Academic text (2011)

  • The trainer explained how certain muscles function as fixators while performing various stretches.

Antonyms

instability
114 5.1

A situation that changes easily and can fail, for example in politics

mobility
92 3.4

Being able to move or change position easily

How Stabilizing

immobilizer
  • Specialized
1 4.6
fixator
  • Specialized
8.1
stabilizer
  • US
7 4.1

Surface Forms

fixator singular
fixators plural

Morphology

fixator = fix (semi-transparent) = fix + ator

Formally 'fix' + agentive suffix yields 'one that fixes', but the anatomical meaning ('a muscle that stabilizes') is specialized and may not be obvious to average learners.

Etymology

Fixator comes from an old Latin word fixare meaning 'to fasten' and the ending -ator that makes it 'a thing that does' the action. So, a fixator is something that holds or fixes a part firmly in place, which is why in the body a fixator is a muscle that keeps a joint steady during movement.