# arc

Pronunciation: US say "AHRK" /ɑɹk/; UK say "AHK" /ɑːk/

## Noun

1. A curved line or shape, such as part of the circumference of a circle, or anything that follows such a curve.
   - Simple: A curved line or shape, like part of a circle.
   - _A jet of water rose in a glittering arc and splashed into the pool._
   - _The coastline sweeps north in a long arc toward the lighthouse._
2. Short for story arc: how a story or character develops within one work or across several parts of a series. — Ellipsis of story arc.
   - Simple: Short for story arc. How a story or character develops from start to end, in one book or many episodes.
   - _The villain's redemption arc took three full seasons to play out._
   - _New readers can start with the latest arc without knowing years of backstory._
3. A flow of electric current across an insulating medium, especially a hot, luminous discharge between two electrodes or in the form of lightning.
   - Simple: Electricity passing through something that normally stops it, often as a hot, bright flash like lightning.
   - _A loose connection can let an arc form inside the panel and start a fire._
   - _The welder struck an arc between the electrode and the steel plate._
4. The three-point line on a basketball court. *(slang)*
   - Simple: The line in basketball where shots from behind it are worth three points.
   - _He went 5 for 7 from beyond the arc in the second half._
   - _Their center rarely steps out past the arc._
6. A particular period or phase in a person's life. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A time or stage in a person's life.
   - _After the breakup she went into a solo-travel arc and saw six countries in a year._
   - _Honestly, my running arc lasted about three weeks._
8. In graph theory, an edge that has a direction, running from one vertex to another.
   - Simple: A link between two points in a graph that goes one way only.
   - _The algorithm assigns a travel time to every arc in the road network._
   - _A one-way street becomes a single arc in the city's graph._
10. In filmmaking, an arc light: a powerful lamp whose light comes from an electric arc.
   - Simple: A strong lamp, lit by electricity jumping across a gap, used when making films.
   - _The gaffer swung a second arc into place for the night battle scene._
   - _Each arc needed an operator to keep its carbons trimmed through the take._
11. The part of a circle that a celestial body appears to travel through as it moves above and below the horizon.
   - Simple: The curved path the sun, moon or a star seems to follow as it rises, crosses the sky and sets.
   - _In winter the sun travels a low arc and sets early in the afternoon._
   - _Near the equator, the sun's arc carries it almost straight overhead at noon._

## Verb

5. To move, or make something move, along a curved path.
   - Simple: To move along a curved line, or to make something move that way.
   - _She arced a long pass across the field to her open teammate._
   - _Fireworks arc across the night sky before bursting into color._
7. To form an electric arc, with current leaping across a gap between conductors.
   - Simple: To make a hot, bright flash as electricity jumps across a gap.
   - _High-voltage lines can arc to a nearby tree if branches grow too close._
   - _During the storm the transformer arced, and the whole street went dark._
9. To shape something into an arc, or to hold it in a curved position.
   - Simple: To bend something into a curve, or to keep it curved.
   - _The gymnast arced her body backward until her palms touched the mat._
   - _Gardeners arc thin willow rods over the bed to hold up a net._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A continuous map from an interval of the real numbers, typically [0, 1], into a space.

## Origin

The chain starts with Proto-Indo-European *h₂erkʷos, meaning "bow, arrow," which led to Latin arcus, meaning "a bow, arc, arch," and then to Old French arc. English inherited arc from the Middle English form ark. Arc, arch, arco, and arrow are doublets.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/arc (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).