Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Artery |
ArteryNoun1. A blood vessel that carries blood from the heart to the body. 2. A major thoroughfare that bears important traffic. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "artery" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1258. (references) |
Etymology: Artery \Ar"ter*y\, noun; plural Arteries. [Latin expression arteria windpipe, artery, Greek]. (Websters 1913) |
| Domain | Definition |
Health | Vessel-carrying blood from the heart to various parts of the body. (references) |
Medicine | Tubular vessel which conveys blood from the heart to the various parts of the body. Source: European Union. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Arteries are tubes that deliver blood from the heart to the tissuess and organss of the body. The arterial system is a high-pressure system that must accommodate the systolic and diastolic pressures generated by the strong contractions of the heart's left ventricle.
To withstand and adapt to these pressures the arteries are surrounded by a varying degree of smooth muscle which contracts or relaxes in response to adrenergic and other locally produced peptides. (See epinephrine, norepinephrine, alpha and beta receptors.)
Arteries deliver blood that has passed through the pulmonary circulation and has become enriched or saturated with oxygen. Hemoglobin molecules within red blood cells bind to up to four molecules of elemental oxygen and gradually release them one by one as the blood cells enter oxygen-poor environments of the distal tissues. This phenomenon is possible due to the oxyhemoglobin dissociation curve (a sigmoid curve illustrating hemoglobin's affinity for oxygen).
The aorta is the root artery and it receives blood directly from the left ventricle of the heart. As the aorta branches and these arteries branch in turn, they become successively smaller in diameter and are called arterioles. Finally, in the most distal parts, they are called capillaries. Capillaries have no smooth muscle surrounding them and have the diameter of only a few red blood cells. At the level of the capillaries oxygen is released to diffuse into tissue cells. The capillaries are continuous with venules. Venules pool together to form larger vessels, each helping to transport wastes and oxygen-poor red blood cells up through the low-pressure system of the veins.
Over time abnormally high pressures (high blood pressure), cholesterol, smoking and possibly many other inflammatory agents (see diabetes, vasculitis, C-reactive protein) are all involved in damaging the endothelium of the vessels, resulting in poor or otherwise abnormal circulation. Simply put, hypertension leads to aneurysms in major vessels whereas hypercholesterolemia leads to coronary artery occlusions (which may result in myocardial infarctions) and diabetes/smoking and vasculitides lead to peripheral (small) artery damage.
The arterial system is extremely important in sustaining life. Its proper functioning is responsible for the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to all cells, as well as the removal of waste products, maintenance of optimum pH and mobilization of the elements of the immune system. Barring trauma, infection and malignancy, it is most often the vascular system which determines whether we continue living or not. In First World countries the two leading causes of death, myocardial infarction and stroke, are each directly the result of an arterial system that has been slowly compromised by years of deterioration.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Artery."
Synonym: ArterySynonym: arteria (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Conduit | Noun: conduit, channel, duct, watercourse, race; head race, tail race; abito, aboideau, aboiteau, bito; acequia, acequiador, acequiamadre; arroyo; adit, aqueduct, canal, trough, gutter, pantile; flume, ingate, runner; lock-weir, tedge; vena; dike, main, gully, moat, ditch, drain, sewer, culvert, cloaca, sough, kennel, siphon; piscina; pipe. (tube); funnel; tunnel. (passage); water pipe, waste pipe; emunctory, gully hole, artery, aorta, pore, spout, scupper; adjutage, ajutage; hose; gargoyle; gurgoyle; penstock, weir; flood gate, water gate; sluice, lock, valve; rose; waterworks. |
Method | Door; gateway; (opening); channel, passage, avenue, means of access, approach, adit; artery, lane, alley, aisle, lobby, corridor; back-door, back-stairs; secret passage; covert way; vennel. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Because you have no idea just how frustrating it is working your ass off trying to inflate a tiny little balloon inside somebody's clogged artery when all that person has to do, really is--oh, I don't know--go for a walk in the morning or choke down a fresh green salad. (Scrubs; writing credit: Gabrielle Allan; Janae Bakken) Most nurses would've gone on to somebody else instead of keeping their fingers plugged in your artery. (Pearl Harbor; writing credit: Randall Wallace) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | This photo of cardiovascular syphilis shows coronary artery stenosis, a feature of late syphilis. The ostia of both coronary arteries are markedly stenosed. Note the "tree-bark" effect in the intimal lining of the aorta just superior to the aortic valve. Credit: CDC. |  | Biologist A. Ranc looking for the carotid artery of a sea turtle. Left to right Plate VI, print 15. In: "Results of the Scientific Campaigns of the Prince of Monaco." Vol. 89. Credit: Sailing for Science - the NOAA Fleet Then and Now. |
 | [Illustration showing portion of perforation of femoral artery and vein]. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |  | U.S. Highway 101 which runs the full length of California, a main artery on which all travel. California, near King City. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Along the main travel artery through San Joaquin Valley, California, U.S. 99. Credit: Library of Congress. | ||
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | The artery pulsated everywhere. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Coronary artery heart disease. (references) | |
Wall of small pulmonary artery thickens. (references) | ||
Other strokes are caused by a hemorrhage (bleeding) from an artery. (references) | ||
Business | Among these products are disposable surgical supplies, rental fees for surgical equipment, bone cement injection equipment for orthopedic surgery, trocar for endoscopy, certain products for percutaneous coronary artery stenting, syringes and needles. (references) | |
Economic History | Egypt | Early assistance focused on the immediate needs of the economy, including clearing, repairing and reopening the Suez Canal to restore to Egypt and the world this important trade artery. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Artery" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Artery" is used about 325 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 100% | 325 | 15,961 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "artery": acromial artery ♦ acromiothoracic artery ♦ alveolar artery ♦ angular artery ♦ anterior cerebral artery ♦ anterior choroid artery ♦ anterior choroidal artery ♦ anterior communicating artery ♦ anterior meningeal artery ♦ Anterior Spinal Artery Syndrome ♦ anterior striate artery ♦ anterior temporal artery ♦ aortic intercostal artery ♦ appendicular artery ♦ arcuate artery ♦ arcuate artery of the kidney ♦ artery of the labyrinth ♦ artery of the penis bulb ♦ artery of the vestibule bulb ♦ ascending artery ♦ atrial artery ♦ auricular artery ♦ Axillary Artery ♦ basilar artery ♦ Brachial Artery ♦ bronchial artery ♦ buccal artery ♦ capillary artery ♦ carotid artery ♦ Carotid Artery Diseases ♦ Carotid Artery Injuries ♦ Carotid Artery Thrombosis ♦ Celiac Artery ♦ central artery of retina ♦ central artery of the retina ♦ Central retinal artery ♦ cerebellar artery ♦ cerebral artery ♦ cervical artery ♦ choroidal artery ♦ ciliary artery ♦ circumflex artery ♦ circumflex artery of the thigh ♦ circumflex humeral artery ♦ circumflex iliac artery ♦ circumflex scapular artery ♦ Coeliac artery ♦ colic artery ♦ common carotid artery ♦ common iliac artery ♦ communicating artery ♦ coronary artery ♦ Coronary Artery Bypass ♦ coronary artery bypass graft ♦ coronary artery disease ♦ cystic artery ♦ epigastric artery ♦ ethmoidal artery ♦ external carotid artery ♦ external iliac artery ♦ external maxillary artery ♦ facial artery ♦ Femoral Artery ♦ gastric artery ♦ gluteal artery ♦ Hepatic Artery ♦ Heubner artery ♦ Heubner's artery ♦ hypogastric artery ♦ ileal artery ♦ ileocolic artery ♦ Iliac Artery ♦ iliolumbar artery ♦ inferior alveolar artery ♦ inferior cerebellar artery ♦ inferior labial artery ♦ inferior mesenteric artery ♦ infraorbital artery ♦ innominate artery ♦ intercostal artery ♦ intermediate temporal artery ♦ internal auditory artery ♦ internal carotid artery ♦ internal iliac artery ♦ Internal Mammary-Coronary Artery Anastomosis ♦ internal maxillary artery ♦ internal spermatic artery ♦ intestinal artery ♦ jejunal artery ♦ labial artery ♦ labyrinthine artery ♦ lacrimal artery ♦ laryngeal artery ♦ left coronary artery ♦ left gastric artery ♦ lienal artery ♦ lingual artery ♦ lumbar artery ♦ Maxillary Artery ♦ meningeal artery ♦ meningeal branch of ophthalmic artery. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "artery": artery-clogging. | |
Ending with "artery": open-artery, renal-artery. | |
Containing "artery": coronary-artery disease. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "artery"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Afrikaans | arterie. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | arterie, rrugë kryesore (high street, highroad, highway, main street, thoroughfare), linjë kryesore (trunk). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | الشريان (blood vessel), شريان نهر, شريان المواصلات, شريان (blood vessel). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | главен път (highway), магистрала (magistral, parkway, thoroughfare, throughput, trunk, turnpike), артерия. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 血管 (vein), 动脉 (Arterial, Arteries), 動脈 . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | tepna. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | arterie (blood vessel). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | slagader, arterie. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Esperanto | arterio. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Faeroese | lívæðr. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | سرخرگ , شاهرگ (Aorta), شریان . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | valtiter. valtimo. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | artère (arterial highway, arterial road). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Frisian | slachier. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | Schlagader, Arterie (blood vessel), pulsader, verkehrsader (arterial road). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | αρτηρία (arterial road). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | עורק (blood vessel, sinew, vein). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | artéria. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indonesian | pembuluh nadi, pembuluh (confection, duct). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | arteria (arterial highway, blood vessel). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 動脈 . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | どうみゃく. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Korean | 동맥 (Arterial, Arteries, Gland, glands). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | cuishlin vooar, arteyr. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Papiamen | arteria. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | arteryay artéria (arterial road). (various references) arterã, magistralã (highway, thoroughfare). (various references) артерия (arteries), главный путь. (various references) cuisle (pulse, pulse; better cusail, vein). (various references) arterija. (various references) arteria (blood vessel). (various references) brudutitey (vein). (various references) artär, pulsåder. (various references) เส้นเลือ"แ"งที่นำเลือ"แ"งออกจากหัวใจ, เส้นทางหลัก. (various references) atardamar (arterial). (various references) damar (nerve, vein). (various references) канал (aqueduct, canal, channel, deferent, ditch, feeder, sluice, watercourse), головний шлях (highroad, highway), магістраль (pipeline, trunk, turnpike), артерія. (various references) rhedweli. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Greek | 700 BCE-300 CE | arteria. (various references) |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | arteria, vena, venae, venam, venarum, venas, venis. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Misspellings | |
"Artery" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Arceri, Areety, areory, areter, Arfer, arrter, artemy, arter, arterie, arteruy, artey, arthri, artley, artuary, artuery, astery, athery, atory, atrey, atrry, Dartrey, Dartry, Nartuby, ratery, rattery. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "artery" (pronounced Ä"rterē) |
| 3 | -t er ē | adultery, alimentary, battery, blustery, buttery, complimentary, contradictory, coterie, directory, documentary, eatery, effrontery, factory, flattery, glittery, history, introductory, jittery, lottery, mastery, mystery, notary, olfactory, parliamentary, peremptory, perfunctory, pottery, premonitory, protohistory, rectory, refractory, rotary, rudimentary, satisfactory, sedimentary, splintery, supplementary, testamentary, trajectory, unsatisfactory, upholstery, valedictory, victory, watery. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-e-r-r-t-y" | |
-1 letter: rater, retry, tarre, tarry, teary, terra, terry, yarer. | |
-2 letters: aery, arty, eyra, rare, rate, rear, tare, tear, tray, trey, tyer, tyre, yare, year. | |
-3 letters: are, art, ate, aye, ear, eat, era, err, eta, rat, ray, ret, rya, rye, tae, tar, tea, try, tye, yar, yea, yet. | |
-4 letters: ae, ar, at, ay, er, et, re. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-e-r-r-t-y" | |
+1 letter: partyer, retiary, strayer, ternary, tracery. | |
+2 letters: barretry, betrayer, errantly, errantry, literary, martyred, partyers, retrally, strayers, teaberry, tertiary, treasury, varletry. | |
+3 letters: artillery, barometry, betrayers, carpentry, crematory, daytrader, drysalter, ferryboat, irreality, itinerary, marquetry, martyries, martyrize, parquetry, portrayed, portrayer, precatory, predatory, prefatory, quarterly, ratepayer, rehydrate, secretary, temporary, termitary, tetrarchy, tracheary, treachery. | |
+4 letters: aberrantly, anteriorly, arterially, astrometry, charactery, clearstory, creaturely, daytraders, dehydrator, derogatory, drysalters, drysaltery, erythremia, expiratory, ferryboats, fraternity, gravimetry, hereditary, hyperalert, interlayer, intermarry, interparty, levorotary, literarily, martyrized, martyrizes, portrayers, procaryote, prokaryote, quaternary, radiometry, ratepayers, refractory, regularity, regulatory, rehydrated, rehydrates, revelatory, strawberry, tracklayer, trajectory, trierarchy, tyrannizer, unliterary, veterinary, yardmaster, yesteryear. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)41 72 74 65 72 79 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references).- .-. - . .-. -.--. |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01000001 01110010 01110100 01100101 01110010 01111001 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)A r t e r y |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0041 0072 0074 0065 0072 0079 |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
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Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)358486718491 |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Quotations: Fiction | 9. Quotations: Non-fiction 10. Usage Frequency 11. Expressions 12. Expressions: Internet | 13. Translations: Modern 14. Translations: Ancient 15. Derivations 16. Rhymes | 17. Anagrams 18. Orthography 19. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
