[a. med. or mod.L. aorta, a. Gr. ἀορτή, applied by Hippocrates in pl. to the bronchi, bronchia, or branches of the windpipe, but subseq. by Aristotle to the great artery, as in modern use; iit. that which is hung (cf. ἀορτήρ hanger, a strap), f. ἀείρ-ειν to raise, lift up.] The great artery or trunk of the arterial system, from its origin in the left ventricle of the heart to its division into the two iliac arteries. Also fig.
1594. T. B., La Primaud. Fr. Acad., II. 357. The great artery, called Aorta by the Physicions.
1621. Burton, Anat. Mel., I. i. I. iii. Aorta is the root of all the other [arteries], which serve the whole body.
1859. Carpenter, Anim. Phys., v. (1872), 226. From the arch of the aorta are given off the arteries which supply the head and upper extremities.
1882. Society, 7 Oct., 8/2. London’s great aorta, the Strand.
