pectoral

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

All senses are ultimately from Latin pectorālis, but some may have come through Old French and Middle English.

“You can keep the freshwater fish!” “Tertio,” Conseil said, “the subbrachians, whose pelvic fins are attached under the pectorals and hang directly from the shoulder bone. — Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas: An Underwater Tour of the World, Jules Verne
Some of these bands, according to the taste or the means of their leader, were furnished with the same pectorals of scales that were borne by the lighter spearmen; while some had short hauberks of steel rings, set edgewise--and some were unprovided with any other armour for the body than the hauqueton of which we have already spoken. — Forest Days: A Romance of Old Times, G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford) James
The knives were not sharpened, nor the floors waxed; there were iron gratings to the windows and strong bars across the fireplace; the little Homais, in spite of their spirit, could not stir without someone watching them; at the slightest cold their father stuffed them with pectorals; and until they were turned four they all, without pity, had to wear wadded head-protectors. — Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert

pectoral muscle, pectoralis, musculus pectoralis, pecs

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