Arc or ark?
arc is a noun meaning “That part of a circle which a heavenly body appears to pass through as it moves…”; ark is a noun meaning “A large box with a flat lid”. They sound the same (/ɑːk/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) arc is about 2.9 times as common as ark.
What is the difference between arc and ark?
| arc | ark | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb, prefix, adjective | noun |
| Meaning | That part of a circle which a heavenly body appears to pass through as it moves above and below the horizon A continuous part of the circumference of a circle (circular arc) or of another curve To move following a curved path | A large box with a flat lid The ship built by Noah to save his family and a collection of animals from the deluge; Noah's ark |
| Example | Swing it from side to side in a high arc overhead | the Ark of Bukhara |
| Forms | arcs | arks |
| Pronunciation | /ɑːk/ /ɑɹk/ | /ɑːk/ /ɑɹk/ |
| In writing | 16 times per million words | 5.6 times per million words |
Sources: arc and ark in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of arc and ark
arc
- 1
That part of a circle which a heavenly body appears to pass through as it moves above and below the horizon
- 2
To move following a curved path
- 3
Used to form the names of inverse trigonometric functions, and the symbols for these functions
arc-sine (British), arcsine (US)
- 4
Acronym of advance reader's copy, a copy of a book given to a reviewer free in advance for review purposes
- 5
A ship's prefix for warships of the navy of Colombia
- 6
A continuous part of the circumference of a circle (circular arc) or of another curve
- 7
To shape into an arc; to hold in the form of an arc
- 8
proscribedAlternative form of ar- used to form the names of inverse hyperbolic functions, and the symbols for these functions
ark
- 1
A large box with a flat lid
- 2
The ship built by Noah to save his family and a collection of animals from the deluge; Noah's ark
- 3
Something affording protection; safety, shelter, refuge
the Ark of Bukhara
- 4
The body as a vessel
- 5
A spacious type of boat with a flat bottom
- 6
The Ark of the Covenant
- 7
A decorated cabinet at the front of a synagogue, in which Torah scrolls are kept
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, arc or ark?
arc appears 16 times per million words; ark 5.6 times per million words.
arc 16 times per million wordsark 5.6 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search arc vs ark?
“arc vs ark” is searched about 590 times a month on Google and 20 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“ark vs arc”, “arc or ark”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.