'Rigor mortis' is Latin for 'stiffness of death' — the post-mortem muscle lock that names itself.
The stiffening of the joints and muscles of a body a few hours after death, usually lasting from one to four days.
From Latin 'rigor mortis,' literally 'stiffness of death,' composed of 'rigor' (stiffness, numbness, from 'rigēre,' to be stiff) and 'mortis' (genitive of 'mors,' death). The phenomenon was known in antiquity, but the Latin phrase as a fixed technical term entered English medical literature in the early nineteenth century. The Latin 'rigēre' derives from Proto-Indo-European *reig- (to reach, to stretch, to be stiff), while
Rigor mortis is caused by a chemical process: after death, the body's cells can no longer produce ATP (adenosine triphosphate), the molecule that allows muscles to relax after contraction. Without ATP, actin and myosin filaments in muscle fibers lock together permanently — until decomposition enzymes break them apart. The condition typically begins two to six hours after death, peaks at twelve hours, and resolves after one to three days
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