aorta

 

aorta - The body’s main artery, which supplies oxygenated blood to all other parts. The aorta arises from the left ventricle (the main pumping chamber of the heart) and arches up over the heart before descending, behind it, through the chest cavity.

It terminates in the abdomen by dividing into the 2 common iliac arteries of the legs. The aorta is thick-walled and has a large diameter in order to cope with the high pressure and large volume of blood passing through it. (See also arteries, disorders of; circulatory system.)