artery: 动脉; vein: 静脉; blood vessel: 血管。vein还有"脉"的意思，veseel还有"器皿"和"船"的意思。

An artery (plural arteries) is a blood vessel that takes blood away from the heart to one or more parts of the body (tissues, lungs, brain etc.). Most arteries carry oxygenated blood; the two exceptions are the pulmonary and the umbilical arteries [肺动脉和脐动脉], which carry deoxygenated blood to the organs that oxygenate it (lungs and placenta [胎盘], respectively). The effective arterial blood volume is that extracellular fluid [细胞外液体] which fills the arterial system.

The arteries are part of the circulatory system, which is responsible for the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to all cells, as well as the removal of carbon dioxide and waste products, the maintenance of optimum blood pH, and the circulation of proteins and cells of the human immune system.

The outermost layer of an artery (or vein) is composed of collagen fibers [胶原纤维] and elastic tissue - with the largest arteries containing small blood vessels that supply large blood vessels 大血管外膜有小营养血管).

 endothelium: 内皮;  tunica extrema/media/intima: 外/中/内膜

Systemic arterial pressures are generated by the forceful contractions of the heart's left ventricle. High blood pressure is a factor in causing arterial damage. Healthy resting arterial pressures are relatively low, mean systemic pressures typically being under 100 mmHg (1.9 psi; 13 kPa) above surrounding atmospheric pressure (about 760 mmHg, 14.7 psi, 101 kPa at sea level). psi: 磅/平方英寸

A blood squirt also known as an arterial gush is the effect when an artery is cut due to the higher arterial pressures. Blood is spurted out at a rapid, intermittent rate, that coincides with the heartbeat. The amount of blood loss can be copious, can occur very rapidly, and be life-threatening.

In medieval times, it was recognized that arteries carried a fluid, called "spiritual blood" or "vital spirits", considered to be different from the contents of the veins. William Harvey described and popularized the modern concept of the circulatory system and the roles of arteries and veins in the 17th century.

六级/考研单词: artery, vessel, plural, tissue, lung, oxygen, respective, fluid, carbon, dioxide, optimum, immune, outer, compose, fibre, elastic, heal, rapid, intermittent, coincide, medieval