medial rectus muscle
- noun
- /ˈmiːdiəl ˈrɛktəs ˈmʌsəl/
- Specialized
:
músculo recto medial
- The surgeon explained that the medial rectus muscle is responsible for moving the eye inward toward the nose.
Examples
-
CT also demonstrated the thickening of the medial rectus muscle, a finding that might be explained by the patient's ophthalmoplegia and proptosis.
Academic text (2001) -
The mass had applied pressure on the globe and on the medial rectus muscle, which was thickened.
Academic text (2001) -
The mass had eroded the lamina papyracea and infiltrated the medial rectus muscle.
Academic text (2006) -
During the examination, the doctor noted the function of the medial rectus muscle in coordinating eye movements.
-
In her anatomy class, she learned that the medial rectus muscle is crucial for proper eye alignment.
Synonyms
An eye muscle that moves the eyeball toward the nose
An eye muscle that turns the eye toward the nose
How Central
- Specialized
- Specialized
Surface Forms
Morphology
The term is compositionally built from 'medial' (toward the midline), 'rectus' (a straight/formally named muscle) and 'muscle' (tissue producing movement), so it clearly signals a straight muscle located on the midline side of the eyeball. However, knowing that this specific muscle's action is to move the eye inward is specialized anatomical knowledge and 'rectus' is a technical/Latin label, so the full functional meaning is not fully predictable to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Medial rectus muscle comes from words meaning 'middle' and 'straight': medial shows the muscle is on the middle side of the eye and rectus shows it pulls in a straight line toward the nose, so it 'moves the eye inward'.
