rotator

[Latin, from rotatus, pa. par. of roto to rotate (q. v.).] 1. Ord. Lang.: That which moves in, or gives a circular motion. 2. Anat .: A muscle imparting rotatory motion. Eleven pairs of small muscles are called rotatores spinæ or vertebra rum (rotators of the spine or of the vertebre). "This articulation is strengthened by strong muscles; on the inside by the triceps and the four little rotators ." -Wiseman: Surgery , bk. vii., ch. viii.