teres minor muscle
- noun
- /ˈtɛrɪs ˈmaɪnər ˈmʌsəl/
- Specialized
:
músculo teres menor
- The teres minor muscle plays a crucial role in shoulder stability during throwing motions.
Examples
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Physical therapists often focus on strengthening the teres minor muscle after a shoulder injury.
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A strain in the teres minor muscle can cause pain when lifting the arm outward.
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The teres minor muscle plays a crucial role in shoulder movements.
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During the exercise, I felt strain in my teres minor muscle.
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The teres minor muscle helps to rotate the arm laterally when throwing a ball.
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After the injury, she worked hard to regain strength in her teres minor muscle.
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The physical therapist explained how the teres minor muscle assists with arm adduction.
Synonyms
A small shoulder muscle that turns the arm outward and helps keep the shoulder joint steady
A small round shoulder muscle that pulls the arm toward the body and turns it outward
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is compositionally built: 'minor' + 'muscle' clearly indicates a small muscle, and 'teres' names a particular muscle group/shape, so a learner who knows the constituents can infer this refers to a small shoulder/upper‑arm muscle. However, the exact anatomical function ('adduct and rotate the arm laterally') and the technical sense of 'teres' are specialized and not fully predictable from everyday meanings, so full understanding requires domain knowledge.
Etymology
Teres minor muscle comes from old Latin words: teres meaning 'rounded' and minor meaning 'smaller'. So the name paints a picture of a small, rounded muscle at the back of the shoulder that helps turn the arm outward.
