Arc Definition

ärk

arced, arcing, arcs

noun

arcs

Something shaped like a curve or arch.

The vivid arc of a rainbow.

American Heritage

The part of a circle that is the apparent path of a heavenly body above and below the horizon.

Webster's New World

A bowlike curved line or object.

Webster's New World

An electric arc.

American Heritage

The band of sparks or incandescent light formed when an electric discharge is conducted from one electrode or conducting surface to another, characterized by relatively high current and low potential difference between electrodes.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

verb

arced, arcing, arcs

To move in a curved course.

Webster's New World

To move or seem to move in a curved path.

The stars that arc across the sky.

American Heritage

To form an arc.

Webster's New World

(intransitive) To move following a curved path.

Wiktionary

(intransitive) To form an electrical arc.

Wiktionary

Synonyms:

abbreviation

American Red Cross.

Webster's New World

AIDS-related complex.

American Heritage Medicine

American Red Cross.

American Heritage Medicine

adjective

Designating an inverse trigonometric function.

Arc sine x is an angle whose sine is x.

Webster's New World

prefix

(mathematics) Used to form the names of inverse trigonometric and hyperbolic functions, and also the symbols for these functions.

Arc-sine (British), arcsine (US)

Arctan.

Wiktionary

Other Word Forms of Arc

Noun

Singular:

arc

Plural:

arcs

Origin of Arc

From Middle English, from Old French arc, from Latin arcus (“a bow, arc, arch”).

From Wiktionary
Middle English ark from Old French arc from Latin arcus

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
From Latin arcus ("bow")

From Wiktionary