ETYM New Lat., from Greek, from aeirein to lift, heave.
Main artery from left ventricle of heart.
The body's main artery, arising from the left ventricle of the heart in birds and mammals. Carrying freshly oxygenated blood, it arches over the top of the heart and descends through the trunk, finally splitting to form the two iliac arteries. Loss of elasticity in the aorta provides evidence of atherosclerosis, which may lead to heart disease.
In fish a ventral aorta carries deoxygenated blood from the heart to the gills, and the dorsal aorta carries oxygenated blood from the gills to other parts of the body.
The large trunk artery that carries blood from the left ventricle of the heart to branch arteries.