Kegels

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Repeated contractions of the pelvic floor muscles done to strengthen them ; the plural form of kegel, naming that same pelvic floor exercise
2. Exercises that squeeze and release the muscles supporting the bladder and bowel ; the plural noun for such a pelvic floor workout
3. Deliberate tightening and relaxing of the muscles around the pelvis to build control ; a plural term for this exercise routine

Etymology: Kegels are named after a person, the American gynecologist Arnold Kegel, who developed the exercises for strengthening the pelvic floor muscles. The exercises bear his surname, and "kegels" is simply the plural form used for repeated sessions of them, so the word is a plain eponym rather than a term with a deeper linguistic history. The surname itself is German. Kegel is related to a German word meaning "skittle" or "bowling pin," so a family name rooted in the game of skittles became, by accident of medical history, the name of a set of muscle exercises. Kegel did not coin the word for the exercises himself in a dramatic way; the name attached to them through his work and the medical literature that followed.