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carotid

UK/kəˈɹɒt.ɪd/US/kəˈɹɑt.ɪd/
adjectiveC1Common in everyday speech and writing · #7,402 of 15,258neutral

Carotid means to do with the main arteries carrying blood to the head. The carotid artery, feel for a carotid pulse, carotid surgery.

There is one on each side of the neck, and the pulse there is the one checked first in an emergency because it is the last to disappear. The Greek name comes from a verb meaning to stun, since pressing on them makes a person faint.

Definitions of carotid

  1. 1adjectivecarotidTo do with the main arteries carrying blood to the head.C1

    “The knife narrowly missed the carotid artery in his neck, which could have killed him.”

carotid is a quality.

Where it comes from

Greek karotides comes from karoun, to stun, because pressure on these arteries causes fainting.

  1. Ancient Greek

    κᾰρωτῐ́δες — carotid arteries

  2. New Latin

    carōtides

  3. French

    carotide

  4. English, today

    carotid

French carotide or New Latin carōtides, from Ancient Greek κᾰρωτῐ́δες (“carotid arteries”), from κᾰρόω + -τῐ́δες, from the fact that the carotid artery supplies blood to the brain, and interruption of this flow causes loss of consciousness.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

carotid in the wild

  • The external carotid artery is the major artery of the head and upper neck.

    External carotid artery

  • The internal carotid artery is an artery in the neck which supplies the anterior and middle cerebral circulation.

    Internal carotid artery

  • The carotid body detects changes in the composition of arterial blood flowing through it, mainly the partial pressure of arterial oxygen, but also of carbon dioxide.

    Carotid body

  • The carotid sinuses are sensitive to pressure changes in the arterial blood at this level.

    Carotid sinus

  • Above, it lies upon the rectus capitis lateralis, behind the internal carotid artery and the nerves passing through the jugular foramen.

    Internal jugular vein

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.