Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
middle meningeal artery

middle meningeal artery

1 7.0
A blood vessel inside the skull that carries blood to the coverings of the brain
  • noun
  • /ˈmɪdəl məˈnɪndʒiəl ˈɑːrtəri/
  • Specialized
translation icon : arteria meníngea media
  • Elevation of the dura causes bleeding from numerous small vessels, and it exposes the larger middle meningeal artery to possible injury.

Examples

  • An injury to the middle meningeal artery can lead to serious complications, including severe headaches.

  • Tearing of the middle meningeal artery.

    Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

  • The surgeon identified the middle meningeal artery during the operation to repair the skull fracture.

  • Understanding the role of the middle meningeal artery is crucial for diagnosing certain head injuries.

Surface Forms

middle meningeal artery singular
middle meningeal arteries plural

Morphology

middle + meningeal + artery

The phrase is a compositional anatomical noun: 'middle' (central/position), 'meningeal' (relating to the brain's protective membranes) and 'artery' (blood vessel) combine directly to denote the artery serving the meninges in a middle/location sense. Such medical naming conventions are regular and cross-linguistically parallel, so a learner who knows the constituent meanings would be able to infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Middle meningeal artery comes from three simple parts: middle shows its position near the center of the skull, meningeal comes from 'meninges', the soft coverings around the brain, and artery means a blood vessel. So the name means 'a blood vessel that supplies the coverings of the brain'.