A.r.c.

American Red Cross.
noun
something curved in shape
part of an unbroken curved line
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
(astronomy) a circular section of the apparent path of a celestial body
(maths) a section of a curve, graph, or geometric figure
verb arcs, arcing, arced, arcs, arcking, arcked
(intransitive) to form an arc
prefix
(maths) specifying an inverse trigonometric function: usually written arcsin, arctan, arcsec, etc, or sometimes sin–1, tan–1, sec–1, etc
abbreviation
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
n.

late 14c., originally in reference to the sun’s apparent motion in the sky, from Old French arc “bow, arch, vault” (12c.), from Latin arcus “a bow, arch,” from PIE root *arku- “bowed, curved” (cf. Gothic arhvazna “arrow,” Old English earh, Old Norse ör; also, via notion of “supple, flexible,” Greek arkeuthos, Latvian ercis “juniper,” Russian rakita, Czech rokyta, Serbo-Croatian rakita “brittle willow”). Electrical sense is from 1821.
v.

1893, in the electrical sense, from arc (n.). Meaning “to move in an arc” attested by 1954. Related: Arced; arcing.

arc (ärk)
n.
A curved line or segment of a circle.

ARC abbr.
AIDS-related complex
arc
(ärk)

A segment of a circle.

See electric arc.

archive
Addiction Research Center
advance readers copy
AIDS-related complex
amateur radio club
American Red Cross
[National Aeronautics and Space Administration] Ames Research Center
Appalachian Regional Commission