arcus

English

Shelf cloud, a type of arcus

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin arcus. Doublet of arc and arco. Distantly related to arrow.

Noun

arcus (plural arcus)

1. (medicine) A white band of cholesterol that forms at the edge of the cornea
2. (meteorology) A low, horizontal cloud typically forming at the leading edge of thunderstorm outflow
3. (entomology) An elastic band around the base of the arolium, a pad at the end of the leg of certain insects
4. (palynology) An arc-shaped band of thickened sexine extending between two apertures on a pollen grain or spore

Related terms

• arc
• arcuate
• arcus juvenilis
• arcus senilis

Translations

a white band of cholesterol that forms at the edge of the cornea

• Portuguese: arco (pt) m

Anagrams

• Curas, carus, scaur

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *arkuos (“bow”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂erkʷos (“bow, arrow”). Cognate to Old English earh, whence English arrow, as well as Proto-Slavic *orkyta (“willow”) and Ancient Greek ἄρκευθος (árkeuthos, “juniper”), owing to juniper and willow twigs being used to make bows due to their flexibility.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈar.kus/, [ˈärkʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈar.kus/, [ˈärkus]

Noun

arcus m (genitive arcūs); fourth declension

1. arc, arch
2. bow (arc-shaped weapon used for archery)
3. rainbow

Declension

Fourth-declension noun (dative/ablative plural in -ubus).

	singular	plural
nominative	arcus	arcūs
genitive	arcūs	arcuum
dative	arcuī	arcubus
accusative	arcum	arcūs
ablative	arcū	arcubus
vocative	arcus	arcūs

Derived terms

• arcifer
• *arciō
• arcipotens
• arcisellium
• arcitenens
• arcuō
• ballistārius arcūs

 

Related terms

• arcuātus

Descendants

• Aromanian: arcu
• English: arch
• Esperanto: arko
• Old French: arc
  • → Middle English: ark, arke
    • English: arc
  • French: arc
• Padanian:
  • Friulian: arc
  • Ligurian: erco
  • Piedmontese: erch, erche
• Romansch: artg, arch
• Middle Low German: ark
  • Low German: ark
    • Norwegian Bokmål: ark
• Occitano-Romance:
  • Occitan: arc
  • Catalan: arc
• Romanian: arc
• Russian: а́рка f (árka)
• Sardinian: alcu, arcu
• Italo-Dalmatian:
  • Italian: arco
  • Sicilian: arcu
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Asturian: arcu
  • Old Spanish: arco
    • Spanish: arco
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: arco, arquo
    • Fala: arcu, alcu
    • Galician: arco
    • Portuguese: arco

See also

• discus
• sagitta

References

• “arcus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “arcus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• arcus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• arcus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “arcus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• arcus in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[1], pre-publication website, 2005-2016
• “arcus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin