A reference to having four heads; such as, certain muscles: "Quadriceps comes from the Latin elements of quadri-, "four" + -ceps, "heads".

A muscle of the thigh that extends the leg: "The quadriceps may refer to any four-headed muscle; however, it usually indicates that the quadriceps muscle of the thigh, the large muscle that comes down the femur (the bone of the upper leg), goes over the patella (the kneecap) and anchors into the top of the tibia (the big bone in the lower leg). The function of the quadriceps is to extend or to straighten out each leg."

"In Latin, this muscle's full formal name is musculus quadriceps femoris."