Word Confusion: Arc versus Ark

Posted July 29, 2021 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

Revised as of
25 June 2023

“Like Noah building an arc, I built my irrigation system in one of the the wettest years in decades.”

I’m guessing this writer never went to Sunday school. Although, I suppose Noah may have used a mathematical arc in his design of the ark . . . you know, the ship??

Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

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Arc	Ark
Circle Slices by Limaner is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. — This circle is cut up to show arch (red), sector (green), and segment (blue).	Replica of Noah’s Ark, the Netherlands, by neufal54 was uploaded by Geogast and is under the CC0 1.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.
Part of Grammar:
Adjective ¹; Noun ²; Verb, intransitive ² Plural for the noun: arcs Gerund: arcing, arcking Third person present verb: arcs Past tense or past participle: arced, arcked Present participle: arcing, arcking	Noun Plural: arks
Path Adjective: Arc or angle (corresponding to the) sine (of so many degrees) ¹ Noun: Part of the circumference of a circle or other curve ² [Mathematics; as modifier] Indicating the inverse of a trigonometrical function Luminous electrical discharge between two electrodes or other points [In a novel, play, or movie] The development or resolution of the narrative or principal theme [Acronym] Advanced Reading Copy [Acronym] American Red Cross [Medical acronym] AIDS-related complex Verb, intransitive: Move with a curving trajectory ² Form an electric arc [the noun]	[In the Bible; the ark] The ship built by Noah to save his family and two of every kind of animal from the Flood A vessel or sanctuary that serves as protection against extinction [Archaic] A chest, box, or coffer [Archaic] A large, flat-bottomed boat Short for Ark of the Covenant [Judaism; also Holy Ark] A chest or cupboard housing the Torah scrolls in a synagogue [Also ark shell] A widely distributed bivalve mollusk that typically attaches itself to rocks with byssus threads A place of protection, safety, or security Refuge Asylum [Nautical] A watertight container used in marine rescue operations, suspended from a hawser and hauled back and forth between a stranded or wrecked vessel and the shore [Informal; very old; out of date] Out of the ark
Examples:
Adjective: Arc sine χ is an angle whose sine is χ. We’ll need an arc lamp for this project. Noun: He used arcs of great circles instead of arcs of parallel circles on the sphere. Using radian measure explains why the inverse-tangent function is also called the ARCtan function — it returns the arc angle when given a tangent. Start with the dumbbells at arm’s length above your chest and lower them in a wide arc out to your sides until you feel a stretch in your chest. She received her ARC of Laney’s newest novel yesterday. The heat required in this process is generated by electric arcs struck between carbon electrodes and the metal bath. His transformation provides the emotional arc of the story. Ninety percent of the ARC workforce are volunteers. ARC is “a prodromal phase of infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)” (AIDS). Verb, intransitive: Trees had arced and curved towards the apex, forming great artificial archways, which consisted of more than merely wood and leaves. The outage was caused by a bad switch that arced.	Noah’s ark filled up two by two. They fled in a starship ark built by their android protectors. The ark was of Italian walnut. So many of the chapters offer versions of the ark, boats built for human survival against the storms of God and/or nature. The Ark of the Covenant is the most sacred object of the tabernacle and the Temple in Jerusalem, where it was kept in the holy of holies. Surprisingly, similar domes were found on the two Holy Arks in Livorno on the western coast of Italy. Our primary goals are to characterize patterns of morphological variation within and between geminate arks and evaluate the utility of shell shape for distinguishing between recent geminate species. They came up with several designs for giant arks of sanity. Luckily, the lifeguard tower had an ark available to rescue the drowning. Oh please, that sort of entertainment went out with the ark.
Derivatives:
	Abbreviation: Ark. (Arkansas)
History of the Word:
Circa 1949. Late Middle English (denoting the path of a celestial object, especially the sun, from horizon to horizon) via the Old French from the Latin arcus meaning bow, curve.	Old English ærc, from the Latin arca meaning chest.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

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