'muscle-like' originates from the English word 'muscle' combined with the suffix '-like', where 'muscle' refers to the tissue in the body that can contract and 'like' means 'similar to'.

'muscle' comes from the Latin word 'musculus', meaning 'little mouse', due to the shape of muscles under the skin.

Initially, 'muscle' referred to the physical tissue, but 'muscle-like' evolved to describe anything resembling muscle in appearance or function.