inferior rectus
- noun
- /ɪnˈfɪriər ˈrɛktəs/
- Specialized
:
recto inferior
- When the inferior rectus is weak, a person may have difficulty looking down.
- inferior rectus muscle entrapment
Examples
-
A doctor examined the inferior rectus for any signs of injury affecting eye movement.
-
In the authors' experience, true entrapment of the inferior rectus muscle is rare.
Academic text (2011) -
Diplopia is rarely due to inferior rectus muscle entrapment, and can easily be determined with a forced duction test.
Academic text (2011) -
The inferior rectus muscle helps move the eyeball downward during blinking.
Synonyms
A muscle in the eye that moves the eyeball down and in
A muscle under the eye that moves the eyeball down and toward the nose
Surface Forms
Morphology
The constituents 'inferior' (lower) and 'rectus' (a straight muscle) combine compositionally to yield the idea of a 'lower straight muscle,' so part of the meaning is directly inferable from the words. However, the specific locational and functional detail — that it is an eye muscle that moves the eyeball downward and toward the nose — requires anatomical knowledge beyond the literal parts, so the full meaning is not wholly predictable to a B1 learner.
Etymology
The name inferior rectus comes from two old words: inferior meaning 'lower' and rectus meaning 'straight'. Picture a straight strap under the eye that pulls the eyeball down and slightly toward the nose, and that's why the name fits the muscle's action.
