Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
×

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

1

arterial

play
adjective ar·te·ri·al \är-ˈtir-ē-əl\

Definition of arterial

  1. 1a :  of or relating to an arteryb :  relating to or being the bright red blood present in most arteries that has been oxygenated in lungs or gills

  2. 2 :  of, relating to, or constituting through traffic

arterially

play \-ē-ə-lē\ adverb

See arterial defined for kids

People Are Reading

decimate-video
Is it wrong to use 'decimate' to mean 'destroy'?
supreme-court-at-dusk
Trending: SCOTUS: 'Bona Fide' relationships
alt-5949565fc7d94
'Negging' Moves Beyond The Bar
image599301899
Pretty in 'Pink'

First Known Use of arterial

15th century

2

arterial

noun ar·te·ri·al

Definition of arterial

  1. :  a through street or highway

Examples of arterial in a Sentence

  1. one of the main arterials connecting the airport with the city

First Known Use of arterial

1920

arterial Synonyms

Synonyms
way, artery, avenue, boulevard, carriageway [British], drag, drive, expressway, freeway, high road, highway, pass, pike, road, roadway, route, row, street, thoroughfare, thruway, trace, turnpike
Related Words
causeway; autobahn, autoroute, autostrada, dual carriageway [chiefly British], interstate, motorway [chiefly British], superhighway; beltway, bypass, parkway, ring road [chiefly British]; corniche, switchback; through street; high street [British], Main Street; backstreet, branch, bystreet, byway, crossroad, secondary road, shunpike, side road, side street; alley, alleyway; circle, lane, laneway [British], mews [chiefly British], place; close [chiefly British], cul-de-sac, dead end; corridor; track, trail

Medical Dictionary

arterial

play
adjective ar·te·ri·al \är-ˈtir-ē-əl\

Medical Definition of arterial

  1. 1:  of or relating to an artery

  2. 2:  relating to or being the bright red blood present in most arteries that has been oxygenated in lungs or gills—compare venous 3

arterially

\-ē-ə-lē\play adverb

Learn More about arterial

  1. See words that rhyme with arterial Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for arterial Spanish Central: Translation of arterial Nglish: Translation of arterial for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of arterial for Arabic speakers

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up arterial? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show hide

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

WORD OF THE DAY

tristful

play

sad or melancholy

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. bona fide Made in good faith

  2. surrogate mother From TMZ to the dictionary.

  3. zealot A fanatical partisan

  4. stonewall to be uncooperative, obstructive, or evasive

  5. scurrilous Containing obscenities, abuse, or slander

SEE ALL

BROWSE DICTIONARY

arterial

WORD GAMES

Take a 3-minute break and test your skills!

  • istock-refers-to-this-as-a-tumble-of-strawberries-which-sounded-pretty-nice-to-us
  • Which is a synonym of garner?
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

TAKE THE QUIZ
Bee Cubed

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

alt-5949565fc7d94
'Negging' Moves Beyond The Bar

Not just for pick-up artists anymore

alt-5947fc40f1b5c
In Tech, What Does 'K' Mean?

A buzzword with a long history.

alt-5951697e1a410
When To Use 'Specious' vs. 'Spurious'

These similar words are not interchangeable

alt-594bf2ec5f26e
Quick: Read This!

'Quick' once had a very different meaning

Ask the Editors

decimate-video
Is it wrong to use 'decimate' to mean 'destroy'?

Language changes

serial-comma
The Serial Comma

Why don't they call it the Merriam-Webster comma?

video-irregardless-grammar-peeve-blend-of-the-synonyms-irrespective-and-regardless
Irregardless

It is in fact a real word (but that doesn't mean you should use it).

video-moose-goose-weird-plurals
Weird Plurals

One goose, two geese. One moose, two... moose. What's up with that?

Word Games

istock-refers-to-this-as-a-tumble-of-strawberries-which-sounded-pretty-nice-to-us
June 2017 Words of the Day Quiz

Summer's first WOTD quiz.

Take the quiz
alt-5941ad7527c3c
Yearbook Superlatives Quiz

Is that your picture under "Largest Vocabulary"?

Take the quiz
Spell It
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

Take the quiz
Bee Cubed
Bee Cubed

Listen to the words and spell through all three levels.

Play the game
Examples: arterial in a Sentence