arc
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arc¹
- /ɑːk/ UK
- /ɑɹk/ US
Sounds like ark · Rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)k
Where it comes from
Inherited from Middle English ark, from Old French arc, from Latin arcus (“a bow, arc, arch”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂erkʷos (“bow, arrow”). Doublet of arch, arco, and arrow.
noun arcs
- That part of a circle which a heavenly body appears to pass through as it moves above and below the horizon.
- A continuous part of the circumference of a circle (circular arc) or of another curve. The arc of a circle may be very little, but, given that, it is possible to construct the entire figure.
- A curve, in general. Swing it from side to side in a high arc overhead.
- A band contained within parallel curves, or something of that shape.
- A flow of current across an insulating medium; especially a hot, luminous discharge either between two electrodes or as lightning.
- Ellipsis of story arc For while most comics have designated entry points into the story in the form of arcs, Homestuck is one elaborate, self-referencing inside joke collapsed inside its own funhouse mirror reflection.
- A period or phase in a person's life. I'm hitting the gym three times a week or more at the moment. I'm in my gym bro arc.
- A continuous mapping from a real interval (typically [0, 1]) into a space.
-
A directed edge.
Similar: arrow, directed edge
- The three-point line.
- An arclight. For all practical purposes the old carbon arcs, which were the backbone of film lighting, are no longer used.
Similar: circular arc, circle segment
verb arcs · arcing · arcking · arced · arcked
- To move following a curved path. A warring bloodhunter detected it and skillfully arced his sword through its spinal column before it could return to follow through with its attack.
- To shape into an arc; to hold in the form of an arc. His mother, her eyes raised to heaven, hands arked before her, moving, made real for John that patience, that endurance, that long suffering, which he had read in the Bible and found so hard to image.
- To form an electrical arc.
ARC²
Where it comes from
An abbreviation.
noun ARCs
- Acronym of advance reader's copy, a copy of a book given to a reviewer free in advance for review purposes. “One of them came up to me in a signing line and asked for a blurb,” says Jen. “Can you believe it? Title I’ve never heard of, from some small press I’ve never heard of, and she comes up to me with a bound ARC, beaming, like of course I’m going to say yes.”
- Initialism of AIDS-related complex
- Acronym of automatic reference counting
proper noun
- Initialism of American Red Cross
ARC³
Where it comes from
Borrowed from Spanish ARC.
proper noun
- The Colombian Navy (Armada de la República de Colombia).
adjective
- A ship's prefix for warships of the navy of Colombia.
Arc⁴
proper noun
- A suggested location where the historical figure Joan of Arc, or her father, were from.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: electric arc, electric discharge, arch, spark, bow, curve, discharge, reactor, rainbow, semicircle, spectrum, crs, rca, segment, rcaf, cta
noun
Similar: circular arc, circle segment
Translations
Every language
noun electric discharge
| Español | arco |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | アーク āku, アーク放電 āku hōden |
| Português | arco |
| Français | arc |
| Deutsch | Lichtbogen |
noun geometry: part of a curve
| Español | arco |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 원호 wonho |
| 日本語 | 円弧 enko |
| 中文 | 弧 hú |
| Português | arco |
| Français | arc de courbe |
| Deutsch | Bogen, Arkus, Kreisbogen |
| Italiano | arco |
| Română | arc |
| Русский | дуга́ dugá, а́рка árka |
| Tiếng Việt | vòng cung |
| العربية | قَوْس qaws, مُنْحَنَى munḥanā |
noun curve
| Español | curva |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 弧 ko |
| 中文 | 弧形 húxíng |
| Português | curva |
| Français | arc |
| Deutsch | Bogen, Kurve |
| Italiano | arco |
| Română | arc |
| Русский | дуга́ dugá |
noun mathematics: mapping
| Italiano | curva in forma parametrica |
|---|
Talk about this word "arc." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/arc. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. arc. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/arc "arc." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/arc.Cite this
@misc{arc_2026,
title = {arc},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/arc},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}