Also 4–6 arche. [a. OF. arche:—L. arca chest, coffer; also, through some confusion, used in OF. for arc:—L. arc-um bow (see ARC).]
I. = L. arcus.
† 1. Any part of a curve; = ARC 1, 2. Obs.
c. 1391. Chaucer, Astrol., II. vii. 21. The arch of the day … from the sonne arisyng til hit go to reste.
1551. Recorde, Pathw. Knowl., I. Def., The compassed line … is called an arche lyne, or a bowe lyne. Ibid., I. iv. Draw an arch of a circle.
1646. Sir T. Browne, Pseud. Ep., 62. An Arch of the Horizon.
1677. Hales, Prim. Orig. Man., I. vi. 119. The convex Superficies of the highest Arch of being.
1790. Wildbore, in Phil. Trans., LXXX. 544. The arch-line of this sector.
1831. Brewster, Optics, x. 93. The arch of vibration was more rapidly diminished in the sun’s light.
2. A curved structure of firm material, either capable of bearing weight or merely ornamental.
1387. Trevisa, Higden, I. 215. An arche of marbel … þe arche of Augustus Cesar his victories.
c. 1425. Wyntoun, Cron., VIII. xxiii. 25. Ane Arche of fayre werk and of fyne.
1551. Recorde, Pathw. Knowl., I. x. The arche of a brydge or of a house or window.
a. 1637. B. Jonson, To Sir E. Sackville (R.). ’Tis the last keystone That makes the arch.
1751. J. Brown, Shaftesb. Charac., 74. The very key-stone of this visionary arch, which he hath … thrown over the depths of error.
1818. Byron, Ch. Har., IV. xcii. For this the conqueror rears The arch of triumph!
3. transf. Anything having the form of the curves or structures, described in the prec. 1 and 2.
c. 1590. Greene, Fr. Bacon, ix. 125. The circled arches of thy brows.
1676. Moxon, Print Lett., 7. The Arches upon the feet of Letter A is the Footing of that Letter.
1702. Addison, Medals, ii. 112. His head is encompassed with … an arch of glory.
1854. Owen, in Orr’s Circ. Sc., I. 168. The neural arch is formed by a pair of bones, called ‘neurapophyses.’
1881. Raymond, Mining Gloss., Arch … 1. A portion of a lode left standing when the rest is extracted. 2. The roof of a reverberatory furnace.
b. esp. The rainbow.
1610. Shaks., Temp., IV. i. 71. The Queene o’th Skie, Whose watry Arch, and messenger, am I.
1728. Thomson, Spring, 215. Behold th’ amusive arch before him fly.
1851. Ruskin, Stones Ven., I. x. 123. God’s arch, the arch of the rainbow.
4. Curvature in the shape of an arch.
1855. Tennyson, Maud, I. xvi. The delicate Arab arch of her feet.
1880. C. & F. Darwin, Movem. Plants, 89. The fact of so many organs … being all arched whilst they break through the ground, shows … the importance of the arch to seedling plants.
5. An arched roof, a vault; fig. the heavens.
1606. Shaks., Tr. & Cr., III. iii. 120. Who, like an arch, reuerb’rate The voyce againe. Ibid. (1611), Cymb., I. vi. 33. Hath Nature giuen them eyes To see this vaulted Arch?
1738. Glover, Leonidas, I. 149. The arch of heav’n resounded.
1813. Scott, Trierm., III. xvii. While the deep arch with sullen roar Return’d their surly jar.
6. Court of Arches, or briefly Arches: the ecclesiastical court of appeal for the province of Canterbury, formerly held at the church of St. Mary-le-Bow (or ‘of the Arches’), so named from the arches that supported its steeple.
1297. R. Glouc., 415. Seyn Mary chyrche of þe arches.
1393. Langl., P. Pl., C. III. 61. Vokettus of þe Arches.
1553–87. Foxe, A. & M., III. 140. Cited to appear in the Arches at Bow Church.
1768. Blackstone, Comm., III. 64. The court of arches … whereof the judge is called the dean of the arches.
1863. Cox, Inst. Eng. Govt., II. xi. 569.
II. (= L. arca, OF. airche, arche.) Archives.
1600. Holland, Livy, IX. xlvi. 349. The civile law … was laid up … in their Arches [penetralibus].
1651. W. G., trans. Cowel’s Inst., 179. Enrolled in the Arches and Treasuries of the Court.
III. Attrib. and Comb., arch-board, ‘the part of the stern over the counter, immediately under the knuckles of the stern-timbers’ (Adm. Smyth); arch-brick, arch-stone, a wedge-shaped brick or stone used in the construction of arches; arch-brow, an arched brow; arch-buttress = ARC-BOUTANT; arch-head, a curved head or terminal piece; arch-roof, a vaulted roof; archways = ARCHWISE; arch-work, structure consisting of arches. Also arch-like, -moulding, -order; and ARCHWAY, -WISE, q.v.
1883. J. Kelly, in Harper’s Mag., Aug., 449/2. A fan-tail overhang, which ends in a moulded arch-board.
1742. Richardson, Pamela, IV. 241. Your Ladyship’s fine Arch-Brow.
1760. Fitzgerald, in Phil. Trans., LI. 827. The arch-head of the lever.
1879. G. Scott, Lect. Archit., I. 127. The arch mouldings are filled with the most exquisite foliage. Ibid., 284. The tracery of a window is always viewed as an arch-order.
1594. T. B., La Primaud. Fr. Acad., II. 150. A Vault or arch-roofe set vpon three pillers.
1828. Hutton, Course Math., II. 138. The voussoirs or arch-stones … have their faces always perpendicular to the respective points of the curve upon which they stand.
1799. J. Robertson, Agric. Perth, 272. The sods … should be laid down archways.
1610. Holland, Camden’s Brit., I. 333. A verie goodly stone bridge of arch-worke.
1742. Young, Nt. Th., VII. 1234. An archlike strong foundation.
