aortic arch

(anatomy) The curving portion of the aorta that bends between the ascending aorta and the descending aorta, from which the brachiocephalic artery, left carotid artery, and left subclavian artery arise.

(embryology) One of a series of six paired embryonic vascular structures which connect the ventral arterial system lying anterior to the heart to the dorsal arterial system above the digestive tract, persist in adult fishes but are reduced or much modified in the adult of higher forms, and give rise to the great arteries of the neck and head.