carotid artery

1. An artery that originates on the right from the brachiocephalic artery and on the left from the aortic arch, runs upward into the neck and divides opposite the upper border of the thyroid cartilage, with the external and internal carotid arteries as its terminal branches; common carotid artery.
2. An artery with its origin in the common carotid artery, with branches to the superior thyroid, lingual, facial, occipital, posterior auricular, and ascending pharyngeal arteries, and with the maxillary and superficial temporal arteries as its terminal branches; external carotid artery.
3. An artery that arises from the common carotid artery opposite the upper border of the thyroid cartilage and terminates in the middle cranial fossa by dividing into the anterior and the middle cerebral arteries; internal carotid artery.