Definition

A group of muscles that come from a single segment of the spine and are controlled by one spinal nerve.

Example

The myotome is important for understanding how muscles develop in embryos.

Conversation

I was reading about how muscles develop in embryos yesterday.

Oh really? That sounds interesting! What did you learn?

I found out that a myotome is responsible for forming skeletal muscles.

Wow, that's cool! I didn't know muscles started from something like that.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Root Explanation

Myotome → It is formed from "myo-" (from Greek "mus" meaning muscle) and "-tome" (from Greek "temnein" meaning to cut). The word refers to a segment of muscle that is cut or derived from a specific segment of the body during development.

Memory Tip

Think of 'muscle' ('myo-') being 'cut' ('-tome') into segments — that's what a myotome is, a segment of muscle.

Visually Confused Words