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Glite Dictionary
teres major

teres major

7.4
A thick round muscle in the upper back that turns the arm toward the body
  • noun
  • /ˈtɛrɪs ˈmeɪdʒər/
  • Specialized
translation icon : teres mayor
  • Strengthening the teres major can improve your overall upper body strength and shoulder stability.

Examples

  • Exercises that focus on the stabilizer muscles in order to stabilize the glenohumeral joint during internal rotation involve the subscapularis and teres major muscles.

    Academic text (2004)

  • The teres major muscle plays a crucial role in helping to lift and rotate the arm towards the body.

  • During physical therapy, the therapist examined the teres major to assess its function and flexibility.

Synonyms

teres major muscle
vsteres major
  • Specialized
7.0

A muscle in the upper back that moves the arm and turns it inward

emphasizes the muscle's thick rounded form and shoulder position rather than only action
musculus teres major
vsteres major
  • Specialized
8.1

A muscle in the upper arm that pulls the arm back and turns it inward toward the body

focuses on inward rotation and rounded shoulder position rather than backward pull

Surface Forms

teres major singular
teres majors plural

Morphology

teres + major

The term is compositionally built from 'teres' (a shoulder-region muscle) and 'major' (larger/primary), so a learner who knows both constituents can infer it denotes the larger teres muscle involved in shoulder movement. Anatomical naming conventions using 'major/minor' are cross-linguistically common, which increases its predictability for learners.

Etymology

Teres major comes from Latin words: teres means 'rounded' and major means 'bigger', naming the thick, rounded muscle at the back of the shoulder. So the name helps you remember it is the larger round muscle that helps turn the arm inward.