‖ platysma
(pləˈtɪzmə)
[mod.L., a. Gr. πλάτυσµα flat piece, plate, flat cake, f. πλατύνειν to widen, f. πλατύ-ς broad, flat.]
† 1. Med. (See quot.) Obs. (or never in Eng. use.)
| 1693 Blancard's Phys. Dict. (ed. 2), Platisma, a broad Linnen-cloth put upon Sores. 1704 in J. Harris Lex. Techn. I. 1895 in Syd. Soc. Lex. |
2. Anat. (In full, platysma myoides or platysma myodes: see myoid.) A thin broad layer of muscular fibres just beneath the skin on each side of the neck in man, extending from the shoulder and collar-bone to the face; corresponding to the panniculus carnosus (see pannicle 1) of some quadrupeds.
| 1693 Blancard's Phys. Dict. (ed. 2), Platysma Myodes. 1804 Abernethy Surg. Obs. (1827) 52 A man..had a large tumour on the side of his neck, beneath the platysma myoides. 1840 G. V. Ellis Anat. 70 The facial artery..is covered, at first, by the platysma. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VII. 290 The fits began with spasm in the right platysma, and were frequently confined to this muscle. |