arterial

American  

[ahr-teer-ee-uhl] / ɑrˈtɪər i əl /

adjective

1. 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.

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

3. 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.

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noun

1. a main route, channel, or other course of flow or access.

   funds to resurface the main arterials of the city.

arterial British  

/ ɑːˈtɪərɪəl /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or affecting an artery or arteries

   arterial disease

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

3. being a major route, esp one with many minor branches

   an arterial road

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Other Word Forms

• arterially
  adverb
• nonarterial
  adjective
• postarterial
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of arterial

1375–1425; late Middle English (< Middle French ) < Medieval Latin artēriālis. See artery, -al ¹

Example Sentences

In rare cases, the infection may produce more severe illnesses such as arterial infections, endocarditis and arthritis, the agency added.

From Los Angeles Times • May 5, 2026

Early proof of concept experiments also suggested that the same approach may one day be useful for other inflammation driven conditions, including traumatic brain injury and pulmonary arterial hypertension.

From Science Daily • May 5, 2026

Those conditions are pulmonary arterial hypertension and pulmonary hypertension with interstitial lung disease.

From Barron's • Mar. 30, 2026

Analysts are also paying close attention to its new pulmonary arterial hypertension drug Winrevair, which brought in $1.4 billion in sales in 2025 and crossed the $1.0 billion sales threshold for the first time.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 3, 2026

Here the sidewalks were shot through with arterial cracks and studded with menacing weeds that had evolved to survive torrential rain and the lack of pollinators.

From "The Marrow Thieves" by Cherie Dimaline