aortic arch

noun Embryology.

1. one member of a series of paired curved blood vessels that arise in the embryo from the ventral aorta, pass around the pharynx through the branchial arches, and join with the dorsal aorta to form the great vessels of the head and neck.

n.

1. The curved portion between the ascending and descending portions of the aorta, lying behind the manubrium and giving rise to the brachiocephalic trunk, the left common carotid, and the left subclavian arteries.arch of aorta
2. Any of several pairs of arterial channels encircling the embryonic pharynx in the mesenchyme of the branchial arches.