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• arc
  arc

  noun

  any unbroken part of the circumference of a circle or other curved line.
• ARC
  ARC

  noun

  AIDS-related complex.

arc

¹ American  

[ahrk] / ɑrk /

noun

• arcs
  plural

1. Geometry. any unbroken part of the circumference of a circle or other curved line.

2. Also called electric arc.  Electricity. a luminous bridge formed in a gap between two electrodes.

3. Astronomy. the part of a circle representing the apparent course of a heavenly body.

4. anything bow-shaped.

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verb (used without object)

arced, arcked, arcing, arcking

1. to form an electric arc.

2. to move in a curve suggestive of an arc.

ARC ² American  

[ahrk] / ɑrk /

noun

1. Pathology. AIDS-related complex.

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ARC ³ American  

Or A.R.C.

abbreviation

1. American Red Cross.

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ARC ¹ British  

abbreviation

1. AIDS-related complex: an early condition in which a person infected with the AIDS virus may suffer from such mild symptoms as loss of weight, fever, etc

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arc ² British  

/ ɑːk /

noun

1. something curved in shape

2. part of an unbroken curved line

3. a luminous discharge that occurs when an electric current flows between two electrodes or any other two surfaces separated by a small gap and a high potential difference

4. astronomy a circular section of the apparent path of a celestial body

5. maths a section of a curve, graph, or geometric figure

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verb

1. (intr) to form an arc

prefix

1. maths specifying an inverse trigonometric function: usually written arcsin , arctan , arcsec , etc, or sometimes sin–1 , tan–1 , sec–1 , etc

arc Scientific  

/ ärk /

1. A segment of a circle.

2. See electric arc

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• arcs
  plural

Etymology

Origin of arc

1350–1400; Middle English ark < Latin arcus bow, arch, curve

Explanation

An arc is a curve. You can describe the bend of a rainbow as an arc. In math, an arc is one section of a circle, but in life you can use the word to mean any curved shape, like the arc of a ballerina's arm or the graceful arc of a flowering vine over a trellis. In the 14th century, arc first meant the movement of the sun in the sky, from the Old French arc, "bow or arch," and the Latin root arcus, also "bow or arch."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

arc ARC arcs arced arcing

The contested isles are part of the volcanic Kuril archipelago, which runs in a broad arc from Russia's Kamchatka peninsula down to Japan's main northern island Hokkaido.

From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026

But that was us imposing our desired arc, which we all know doesn’t work.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

“Eric has stumbled on what for me was the heart of the entire film,” Johnson said of Tony’s arc toward honesty on-screen.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

The only dance record on the shortlist, Nia Archives' second album traces the arc of a relationship from the first flush of love to a breakup so ugly that her partner calls the police.

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

Briggs kicked an arc of sand across John Harvey’s legs.

From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn

Shell’s deal to buy ARC may be just the start of a series of acquisitions in the industry.

From Barron's ● Apr. 27, 2026

Shell also is taking on $2.8 billion of ARC net debt and leases.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 27, 2026

Last year, ARC reported production of 374,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, before royalty burdens.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 27, 2026

The team, led by Flinders ARC Research Fellow Dr. Witold Bloch, created specialized materials known as adsorbents that can effectively capture PFAS.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 8, 2026

Rapidly becoming obsolete as the ARC compression method is falling into disuse, having been replaced by newer compression techniques.

From The Jargon File, Version 2.9.10, 01 Jul 1992 by Eric S. Raymond

The film is Marvel's last big-screen outing before Doomsday, the long-awaited culmination of multiple superhero story arcs after Avengers: Endgame.

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026

Island arcs, chains of volcanoes that develop above subduction zones where one oceanic plate descends beneath another, are often unusually rich in gold.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026

Their career arcs have taken different paths to their first Grand Slam meeting.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2026

Often, our life arcs lead us from one solid self to another.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026

When the lawyer came, puffy-faced, darkened arcs under his eyes, Obinze remembered all the films in which the state lawyer is distracted and exhausted.

From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Robinson left-footed the ball to an unmarked Dest at the top of the box, a shot that was blocked in the wall, then arced toward the goal.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026

Suddenly, the whale’s dark body arced above the surface before diving down to reveal its tail, or fluke.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026

Bath were shocked as Ramm powered through a gap between defenders and arced away from the covering Bailey to score the home side's third try in fewer than 15 minutes.

From BBC ● Jan. 5, 2025

Experts who watched videos showing downed power lines agreed wire that was insulated would not have arced and sparked, igniting a line of flame.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 26, 2023

A rainbow arced suddenly across the field, connecting the two balls of light.

From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling

The ultra-fast missiles travel on a high arcing trajectory before crashing down into their target.

From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026

A birthday party had just ended, and he was offered a piece of cake, chocolate with a jelly-bean rainbow arcing across the frosting.

From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2025

It soars upward and hangs there for four seconds, six seconds, eight—a black meteor arcing against the blue sky.

From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2025

That caused a short-circuit and "arcing" - electric sparks like those in a spark plug - which resulted in a "catastrophic failure".

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2025

He dove even lower, arcing behind the ships and squinting through his gun sight.

From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin

Related Words

• arch