Jump To:

• 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.

---

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.

---

ARC ³ American  

Or A.R.C.

abbreviation

1. American Red Cross.

---

arc ¹ 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

---

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 ² 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

---

arc Scientific  

/ ärk /

1. A segment of a circle.

2. See electric arc

---

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

They hit TikTok with longform A.I.-generated episodes of Draco Malfoid and Harry Potter’s enemies-to-lovers arc at Hogwarts.

From Slate ● Oct. 29, 2026

Its discovery suggests that northwestern Iran experienced a separate episode of continental arc activity during the Late Cretaceous, expanding scientists' understanding of how the region developed.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 28, 2026

If there is something schematic about the arc, the characters within it, Clive as much as Leo, are completely human.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026

"To have seen the arc of this bill come to fruition has been a marathon," Tasneen said.

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

“The arc of her lips,” he adds elsewhere, “appears to be about to erupt into divine sarcasm, heavenly irony, angelic derision.”

From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day

Alongside the world's media, a few hundred fans filled the balcony above and quickly made their allegiance known as "Oh Anthony Joshua" rang around the British Airways ARC.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

Shell says it will buy ARC for 32.80 Canadian dollars per share, made up of 75% Shell stock and 25% cash—a 27% premium to ARC’s closing price on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Friday.

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

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

THE ARC DE L'ETOILE.—The triumphal arch bears many scars, but none of them of much importance.

From Paris under the Commune The Seventy-Three Days of the Second Siege; with Numerous Illustrations, Sketches Taken on the Spot, and Portraits (from the Original Photographs) by John Leighton

In a statement, the companies behind the project said the AI-assisted technology will "scan decades of episodes to map character arcs, storylines and standout moments, helping editors quickly identify the strongest material".

From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026

Those changes may have included slab rollback, a process in which a descending tectonic plate retreats as it sinks into Earth's interior, as well as the migration of volcanic arcs to new locations.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 28, 2026

Sean Fennessey, host of “The Big Picture” podcast, needs to talk about the narrative arcs of just-released movies on his show.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026

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

It sounded like a faraway car alarm, the note pitching up and down in long, slow arcs.

From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs

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

But as the sound of his melancholy horn arced through a sweltering Pasadena afternoon, one couldn’t help but be grateful to still have him here playing, even after losing everything.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2025

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

This one arced over Chelsea’s wall and dropped crisply into the bottom corner beyond Kepa Arrizabalaga’s despairing dive.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 18, 2023

Salzburg looked up in surprise as the bomb arced through the air and his hands reached up automatically to catch the object zooming at his head.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

Government fire investigators said the fire, which killed 19 people and destroyed thousands of homes, was caused by electrical arcing on Edison’s out-of-service transmission line in Eaton Canyon.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026

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

From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026

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

The familiar approach, arcing towards the stumps, heels kicking up, limbs loose.

From BBC ● May 23, 2025

She frowned, then made an arcing motion with her hand.

From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• arch

---