aorta

/eɪˈɔrdə/

/eɪˈɔtə/

Other forms: aortas; aortae

The aorta is a big artery — it’s the biggest one you’ve got. You have the aorta to thank for circulating oxygen-rich blood throughout your body.

The aorta is sometimes called a trunk artery. It begins at the left ventricle of your heart and runs down your abdomen, with other smaller arteries branching off throughout your body. So it sort of looks like the trunk of a tree that supports other branches. The heart pumps the blood flowing through the aorta, which is sent throughout the body. The aorta does all this work even though it’s only about a foot long and an inch in diameter.

Definitions of aorta

1. noun

   the large trunk artery that carries blood from the left ventricle of the heart to branch arteries
   types:

   ascending aorta

   the ascending part of the aorta as it emerges from the left ventricle

   aortic arch

   the part of the aorta that arches and turns downward

   descending aorta

   the descending part of the aorta that branches into the thoracic and abdominal aortae

   abdominal aorta

   a branch of the descending aorta

   thoracic aorta

   a branch of the descending aorta; divides into the iliac arteries

   type of:

   arteria, arterial blood vessel, artery

   a blood vessel that carries blood from the heart to the body