Meaning & use
teres
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Meanings
nouncountabletechnicalspecialistmedical
Either of two long rounded muscles that run from the shoulder blade to the upper arm and help move and steady the shoulder joint.
Grammar: Usually appears in the full Latin names teres major and teres minor; the bare word alone is rare and mainly found in anatomy writing.
Patterns
- the teres major
- the teres minor
- teres major and teres minor
The teres major pulls the arm backward and rotates it inward.
A tear of the teres minor can make lifting the arm above the head painful.
In the dissection lab we located the teres major just below the shoulder blade.
nouncountabletechnicalspecialistmedical
The rounded fleshy part of such a muscle, especially the rounded band felt at the inner edge of the shoulder blade.
Grammar: Used when the writer is describing the muscle's shape rather than naming it; still countable, as in 'a teres'.
Patterns
- a rounded teres
- the teres lies
On the model, the teres appears as a rounded strap crossing the back of the armpit.
The therapist pressed along the teres to release tension in the shoulder.
Common combinations
- teres major
- The teres major works together with the latissimus dorsi to bring the arm down.
- teres minor
- The teres minor is one of the four rotator cuff muscles.
- teres major muscle
- She strained her teres major muscle while lifting weights.
- teres minor tear
- An MRI showed a small teres minor tear.
- teres major and teres minor
- Both the teres major and teres minor attach to the upper arm bone.
Synonyms and how they differ
- round muscle
- A plain descriptive phrase rather than an anatomical name; use it only in general writing, not in medical texts.
- shoulder muscle
- Much broader and less precise: it covers every muscle around the shoulder, while teres names two specific ones.
Word family
- teres major noun
- The larger of the two teres muscles, running from the lower shoulder blade to the arm.
- teres minor noun
- The smaller teres muscle, part of the rotator cuff group.
- latissimus dorsi noun
- A large back muscle that often works alongside the teres major.
Commonly confused: teres or Teresa? teres or tier?
teres vs Teresa
A personal name for a woman, pronounced with a final '-a'. The muscle word teres ends in '-es' and is a Latin term, not a name.
teres vs tier
A row or level of something, pronounced to rhyme with 'ear'. Teres is a two-syllable Latin word used only in anatomy.
Practice
Which sentence uses the anatomical word teres correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Teres' is an anatomical noun used in the fixed names teres major and teres minor, so option 0 fits. Option 1 confuses it with 'tier' (a level or row), option 2 treats it as a verb, and option 3 treats it as a plural noun for people or birds, none of which exist.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “teres”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.