platysma

[pluh-tiz-muh]

noun, plural pla·tys·mas, pla·tys·ma·ta

[pluh-tiz-muh-tuh] /pləˈtɪz mə tə/, Anatomy.

a broad, thin muscle on each side of the neck, extending from the upper part of the shoulder to the corner of the mouth, the action of which wrinkles the skin of the neck and depresses the corner of the mouth.

Origin of platysma

1685–95; < New Latin < Greek plátysma a plate, literally, something wide and flat, equivalent to platý(nein) to widen (derivative of platýs; see platy-) + -sma, variant of -ma resultative suffix

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for platysma

Historical Examples of platysma

If so, perhaps the platysma could be observed in such cases.
The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, Volume II (of II)
Charles Darwin
Several persons have pointed out my error about the platysma.
More Letters of Charles Darwin Volume II
Charles Darwin
The Professor tells me there is a muscular slip, a dependence of the platysma myoides, which is called the risorius Santorini.
The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table
Oliver Wendell Holmes
In all cases the contraction of the platysma causes the wound to gape widely, and its edges tend to be turned in.
Manual of Surgery Volume Second: Extremities--Head--Neck. Sixth Edition.
Alexander Miles
In only four of the cases was the platysma visibly contracted; and it did not begin to contract until the patients began to cry.
The Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals
Charles Darwin

platysma in Medicine

platysma

[plə-tĭz′mə]

n. pl. pla•tys•mas

A platelike muscle in the neck extending to the lower face with origin from the subcutaneous layer and fascia covering the greater pectoral and deltoid muscles at the level of the first or second rib, with insertion to the mandible, the risorius muscle and platysma of the opposite side, with nerve supply from a branch of the facial nerve, and whose action depresses the lower lip and wrinkles the skin of the neck and the upper chest.