Translingual
Symbol
ark
See also
English
Etymology
From Middle English arke, from Old English earc, ærc, from Latin arca (“chest, box, coffer”), from arceō (“to enclose”).

Pronunciation
Noun
ark (plural arks)
- A large box with a flat lid.
- 1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 228:
- Then said he, "Your child is at home in the inner bedroom in a new cradle behind the ark."
- (Abrahamism) The ship built by Noah to save his family and a collection of animals from the deluge; Noah's ark.
- 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 201:
- In the midrash about Noah it says that Noah had a stone which, when held up in the darkness of the ark, would change color when the sun was shining outside.
- Something affording protection; safety, shelter, refuge.
- the Ark of Bukhara
- (figuratively) The body as a vessel.
- 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC:
- Like her I go; I cannot stay;
I leave this mortal ark behind,
A weight of nerves without a mind,
And leave the cliffs, and haste away […]
- A spacious type of boat with a flat bottom.
- 1990, Lou Sullivan, chapter 7, in From Female to Male: The Life of Jack Bee Garland, page 76:
- Some seventy or seventy-five arks were permanently located on McLeod's Lake and between 110 and 125 people lived in them.
- (Judaism) The Ark of the Covenant.
- (Judaism) A decorated cabinet at the front of a synagogue, in which Torah scrolls are kept.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Descendants
- → Māori: āka
Translations
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Further reading
- “ark”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “ark”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
Anagrams
Danish
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Via Middle Low German ark from Latin arcus. The Latin words means "bow", but it is here used in a wider sense of the folded paper. Compare the same semantic development in German Bogen (“bow; sheet of paper”).
Noun
ark n (singular definite arket, plural indefinite arker)
- a sheet (of paper)
Declension
| neuter gender |
singular | plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| indefinite | definite | indefinite | definite | |
| nominative | ark | arket | ark | arkene |
| genitive | arks | arkets | arks | arkenes |
Synonyms
Etymology 2
From Old Danish ark, Old Norse ǫrk, from Proto-Germanic *arkō, borrowed from Latin arca (“chest, coffin; ark”).
Noun
ark c (singular definite arken, plural indefinite arker)
Declension
| common gender |
singular | plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| indefinite | definite | indefinite | definite | |
| nominative | ark | arken | arker | arkerne |
| genitive | arks | arkens | arkers | arkernes |
Dutch
Etymology
From Middle Dutch arke. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.
Pronunciation
Noun
ark f (plural arken, diminutive arkje n)
Derived terms
Descendants
- Afrikaans: ark
Icelandic
Etymology
Borrowed from Danish ark, from Latin arcus.
Pronunciation
Noun
ark n (genitive singular arks, nominative plural örk)
Declension
| singular | plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| indefinite | definite | indefinite | definite | |
| nominative | ark | arkið | örk | örkin |
| accusative | ark | arkið | örk | örkin |
| dative | arki | arkinu | örkum | örkunum |
| genitive | arks | arksins | arka | arkanna |
Maltese
Alternative forms
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
ark m (plural arkiet or arkijiet)
Manx
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Old Irish orc (“young pig”), from Proto-Celtic *ɸorkos, from Proto-Indo-European *pórḱos, from *perḱ- (“to dig”).
Noun
ark f (genitive singular arkagh, plural arkyn or irk)
References
- Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 orc”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
Middle English
Alternative forms
Etymology
Borrowed from Old French arc, from Latin arcus (“a bow, arc, arch”).
Noun
ark (plural arks)
- The path of the sun across the sky.
Descendants
References
- “ark, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
North Frisian
Determiner
ark
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology 1
From Old Norse ǫrk (“chest”), from Proto-Norse *ᚨᚱᚲᚢ (*arku), borrowed during pre-Christian time from Latin arca (“chest, box”), from arceō (“enclose, box in”), from Proto-Italic *arkeō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂erk- (“to protect, guard”).
Noun
ark m (definite singular arken, indefinite plural arker, definite plural arkene)
- the ark (boat of Noah)
- paktens ark - the Ark of the Covenant
Synonyms
- kvist (dormer)
Etymology 2
From Old Danish ark, arken, arkens, through Middle Low German or Low German arkener (“breast protection”), from Old French arquiere (“shooting range”).
Noun
ark m (definite singular arken, indefinite plural arker, definite plural arkene)
- (architecture) a dormer
Etymology 3
From Low German ark, from Latin arcus (“arc, arch”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂erkʷo- (“bow, arrow”).
Noun
ark n (definite singular arket, indefinite plural ark, definite plural arka or arkene)
- a sheet (of paper)
Synonyms
Derived terms
References
- “ark” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology 1
From Old Norse ǫrk, from Latin arca (“chest, box”); sense 3 from Old French arquire, via Middle Low German or Low German and old Danish.
Noun
ark f (definite singular arka, indefinite plural arker, definite plural arkene)
- the ark (boat of Noah)
- paktarka - the Ark of the Covenant
- (architecture) a dormer
Synonyms
- kvist (dormer)
Etymology 2
From Latin arcus, via Low German ark.
Noun
ark n (definite singular arket, indefinite plural ark, definite plural arka)
- a sheet (of paper)
Synonyms
Derived terms
References
- “ark” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Swedish
Pronunciation
Audio: (file)
Etymology 1
From Old Swedish ark, from late Proto-Germanic *arkō, borrowed from Latin arca in pre-Christian times.[1]
Noun
ark c
- an ark, a box; the Ark of the Covenant
- the ark (ship) of Noah, resembling a box
Declension
| nominative | genitive | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| singular | indefinite | ark | arks |
| definite | arken | arkens | |
| plural | indefinite | arkar | arkars |
| definite | arkarna | arkarnas |
Related terms
Descendants
- → Finnish: arkki
Etymology 2
From Old Swedish ark, from Middle Low German ark, from Latin arcus (“bow”).[2] Compare German Bogen. It refers to the bend of the parchment when folded.[3]
Noun
ark n
- a sheet of paper (for writing on)
- (printing) a signature, a multiple of four pages printed on a single sheet, which is folded and bound into a book
Declension
| nominative | genitive | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| singular | indefinite | ark | arks |
| definite | arket | arkets | |
| plural | indefinite | ark | arks |
| definite | arken | arkens |
Synonyms
Related terms
Descendants
- → Finnish: arkki
References
- ^ “ark”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
- ^ “ark”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
- ^ ark 2 in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)
Anagrams
Turkish
Pronunciation
Noun
ark (definite accusative arkı, plural arklar)
- (chiefly Internet) abbreviation of arkadaş
West Frisian
Pronunciation
Noun
ark n (no plural)
Further reading
- “ark (I)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011