arterial

[ ahr-teer-ee-uh l ]

/ ɑrˈtɪər i əl /

adjective

Physiology. pertaining to the blood in the pulmonary vein, in the left side of the heart, and in most arteries, having been oxygenated during its passage through the lungs and being normally bright red.

Anatomy. of, relating to, or resembling the arteries.

being or constituting a main route, channel, or other course of flow or access, often with many branches: an arterial highway; an arterial drainage system.

noun

a main route, channel, or other course of flow or access: funds to resurface the main arterials of the city.

Nearby words

Origin of arterial

1375–1425; late Middle English (< Middle French) < Medieval Latin artēriālis. See artery, -al¹

Related formsar·te·ri·al·ly, adverbnon·ar·te·ri·al, adjectivepost·ar·te·ri·al, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for arterial

Heavy lacerations, arterial bleeding, left leg and left arm.
Friends on the Line: Excerpt from Brian Mockenhaupt’s “The Living and the Dead”|Brian Mockenhaupt|November 21, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The neighboring blood-vessels are congested and may contain thrombi, both venous and arterial.
Scurvy Past and Present|Alfred Fabian Hess
A sample of the dog's arterial blood contained ten per cent of acetylene.
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, July 1899|Various
The heart in hyperpiesis hypertrophies and dilates, but such a heart is the result, not an integral part, of the arterial disease.
Arteriosclerosis and Hypertension:|Louis Marshall Warfield

It may be noted that arterial anomalies are extremely frequent.
The Criminal|Havelock Ellis
The first of these is afforded by the arrangement of the arterial vessel supplying the liver.
The Anatomy of the Human Peritoneum and Abdominal Cavity|George. S. Huntington

British Dictionary definitions for arterial

arterial

/ (ɑːˈtɪərɪəl) /

adjective

of, relating to, or affecting an artery or arteriesarterial disease

denoting or relating to the usually bright red reoxygenated blood returning from the lungs or gills that circulates in the arteries

being a major route, esp one with many minor branchesan arterial road

Derived Formsarterially, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for arterial

arterial

adj.

early 15c., from French artérial (Modern French artériel), from Latin arteria; see artery.

Medicine definitions for arterial

arterial

[ är-tîr′ē-əl ]

adj.

Of or relating to one or more arteries or to the entire system of arteries.

Of, relating to, or being the bright red oxygenated blood in the arteries.

Related formsar•te′ri•al•ly adv.

Science definitions for arterial

artery

[ är′tə-rē ]

Any of the blood vessels that carry oxygenated blood away from the heart to the body's cells, tissues, and organs. Arteries are flexible, elastic tubes with muscular walls that expand and contract to pump blood through the body.

Related formsarterial adjective (är-tîr′ē-əl)