atrium (of the heart)
1
4.8
- noun
- /ˈeɪ.tri.əm/
- Specialized
:
aurícula
- This strongly suggests that this FNS-KE exercise system enhances the return of venous blood to the heart via mechanical mechanisms that reduce venous pooling and assist venous return from the lower body back to the right atrium of the heart (8).
Examples
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Oxygen-poor blood returns to the right atrium of the heart before being pumped to the lungs.
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The left atrium of the heart receives blood from the pulmonary veins.
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Damage to the atrium of the heart can disrupt normal blood flow.
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The right atrium of the heart receives deoxygenated blood from the body.
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During the surgery, the doctor examined the left atrium for any abnormalities.
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Blood flows from the atrium of the heart into the ventricles during each heartbeat.
Synonyms
6
6.9
A chamber in the heart that gets blood from the veins
The upper chamber in each side of the heart that receives blood before it goes to the lower chamber
Surface Forms
Morphology
atrium + (of + the + heart)
The phrase is fully compositional: 'atrium' names an upper heart chamber and 'of the heart' simply specifies the anatomical domain, with no idiomatic or metaphorical shift. This straightforward noun + of-phrase structure is cross-linguistically common and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.
Etymology
Atrium of the heart comes from an old word for the entrance hall of a Roman house. Imagine people arriving in that main room before moving to other rooms; the heart's atrium similarly 'receives' blood and 'sends' it to the lower chambers called 'ventricles', so the name helps you remember its job.