What does "masseter" mean?

The large muscle which runs through the rear part of the cheek from the temporal bone to the lower jaw on each side, raises the lower jaw, and assists in mastication.

What is a synonym for "masseter"?

Common synonyms include: biceps, jaw muscle, jaw muscle, masseter muscle, muscle, voluntary muscle.

Masseter

//maˈsiː.tə// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
The large muscle which runs through the rear part of the cheek from the temporal bone to the lower jaw on each side, raises the lower jaw, and assists in mastication.
2
a large muscle that raises the lower jaw and is used in chewing wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

biceps jaw muscle jaw muscle masseter muscle muscle voluntary muscle

Etymology

Borrowed from New Latin massētēr. Compare French masséter.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.