An artery with origin in the internal carotid artery that passes through the optic foramen and that branches to the central artery of the retina and to the ciliary, meningeal, lacrimal, conjunctival, episcleral, supraorbital, ethmoidal, palpebral, nasal, and supratrochlear arteries.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company.