Arc

Last updated January 31, 2026

Arc may refer to:

Mathematics

Arc (geometry), a segment of a differentiable curve
- Circular arc, a segment of a circle
Arc (topology), a segment of a path
Arc length, the distance between two points along a section of a curve
Arc (projective geometry), a particular type of set of points of a projective plane
arc (function prefix) (arcus), a prefix for inverse trigonometric functions
Directed arc, a directed edge in graph theory
Minute and second of arc, a unit of angular measurement equal to 1/60 of one degree.
Wild arc, a concept from geometric topology

Arc, in geology a mountain chain configured as an arc due to a common orogeny along a plate margin or the effect of back-arc extension
- Hellenic arc, the arc of islands positioned over the Hellenic Trench in the Aegean Sea off Greece
Back-arc basin, a subsided region caused by back-arc extension
Back-arc region, the region created by back-arc extension, containing all the basins, faults, and volcanoes generated by the extension
Island arc, an arc-shaped archipelago, usually so configured for geologic causes, such as sea-floor spreading, common orogeny on the margin of the same plate, or back-arc extension
- Northeastern Japan Arc, an island arc
- Banda Arc, a set of island arcs in Indonesia
Continental arc, in geology a continental mountain chain or parallel alignment of chains (as opposed to island arcs), configured in an arc
- Eastern Arc Mountains, a continental arc of Africa
Volcanic arc, a chain of volcanoes positioned in an arc shape as seen from above
- Aleutian Arc, a large volcanic arc in the U.S. state of Alaska
Nastapoka arc, a circular coastline in Hudson Bay

arc, the command-line interface for ArcInfo
ARC (file format), a file name extension for archive files
ARC (processor), 32-bit RISC architecture
Adaptive Replacement Cache, a page replacement algorithm for high-performance filesystems
Automatic Reference Counting, the Clang compiler's implementation of reference counting
Arc (programming language), a Lisp dialect designed by Paul Graham
Arc (web browser), a freeware web browser developed by The Browser Company
Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc, a cellphone
Audio Return Channel, an audio technology working over HDMI
Authenticated Received Chain, an email authentication system
Arc lamp, a lamp that produces light by an electric arc
- Xenon arc lamp, a highly specialized type of gas discharge lamp
- Deuterium arc lamp, a low-pressure gas-discharge light source
- Hydrargyrum medium-arc iodide lamp, the trademark name of Osram's brand of metal-halide gas discharge medium arc-length lamp
Electric arc furnace, a furnace that heats charged material by means of an electric arc
Arc welding, a welding process that is used to join metal to metal
Arc-fault circuit interrupter, a specialized circuit breaker
Arc converter, a spark transmitter
Intel Arc, brand of graphics processing units designed by Intel
Arc, one side (half) of an arch

Electric arc, an ongoing plasma discharge (an electric current through a gas), producing light and heat
Arc flash, the light and heat produced as part of an arc fault
Arc (protein), a name of product of an immediate early gene, also called Arg3.1
Reflex arc, a neural pathway that controls a reflex
Circumhorizontal arc, an optical phenomenon
Circumzenithal arc, an optical phenomenon

A.R.C. (album), by pianist Chick Corea with bassist David Holland and drummer Barry Altschul recorded in 1971
Arc (Neil Young & Crazy Horse album), 1991
Arc (Everything Everything album), 2013
Arc (EP), a 2016 EP by Agoraphobic Nosebleed
"Arc", a song by Pearl Jam from Riot Act

Arc System Works, a video game developer
Luminous Arc, a video game series
The title character of Arc the Lad , a series of role-playing video games for the PlayStation and PlayStation 2

Tilted Arc, a controversial public art installation by Richard Serra
Arc Poetry Magazine , a Canadian literary journal
Character arc, the status of a character as it unfolds throughout the story
Story arc, an extended or continuing storyline
Arcs, one of the twelve basic principles of animation
Ultraman Arc , a 2024 Japanese television series produced by Tsubuyara Productions and TV Tokyo

Arcata Transit Center, Amtrak code for the station in Arcata, California
IATA airport code of Arctic Village Airport, a public use airport in Alaska
ISO 639-3 language code of the Official Aramaic language, spoken between 700 BCE and 300 BCE

Arc Infrastructure, an Australian railway company
Arc Institute, an American biomedical research organization
Arc International, a French manufacturer and distributor of household goods
Arc Publications, a UK independent publisher of poetry
Arc @ UNSW, the principal student organisation at the University of New South Wales
Arc of the United States, a charitable organization serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities
Arc Holdings, a French manufacturer of household goods

American Rivers Conference (abbreviation officially rendered as "A-R-C"), an NCAA Division III athletic conference
Arc (greyhounds), a major greyhound race in the Greyhound Board of Great Britain calendar
Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, a horse race in Paris

Arc (Bahá'í), a number of administrative buildings for the Bahá'í Faith, located on Mount Carmel in Israel