The deep lingual artery (lat. a. profunda linguae) is one of the branches of the lingual artery. It arises from the lingual artery at the base of the tongue and goes to the apex, passing through the center of the tongue. Supplies blood to the muscles of the tongue. It has anastomoses with the artery of the same name on the opposite side. Also referred to as paired azygos artery (pna), lingual azygos artery (bna), or glossopalatine artery (jna).