Arched

How to spell arched

6 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce arched

What does arched mean?

1. adjectiveCurved in the shape of an arch.
2. verbBent or curved something into the shape of an arch.

Arched in a sentence

• adjective

  The old library had tall arched windows along one wall.

• verb

  The cat arched its back when the dog approached.

• adjective

  The cathedral ceiling rose into a series of arched stone vaults.

• verb

  He arched one eyebrow in quiet surprise.

Where does arched come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word grows from the noun and verb 'arch', which English took from Old French 'arche' in the 1200s, itself descended from the Latin 'arcus', meaning a bow, a curve, or an arch. The Latin 'arcus' originally named the archer's bow, and that idea of a graceful curve carried over into building, where an arch is a curved structure spanning an opening. By the late 1300s 'arch' was working as a verb meaning to bend or curve into that shape, and the past tense and adjective 'arched' followed naturally with the standard '-ed' ending. The same 'arcus' root still curves through related words such as 'arc', 'archer', and 'archery'. Because the ending simply adds '-ed' to 'arch', the spelling is regular, though the silent shift from the 'ch' sound to a 't' sound at the end is what can momentarily trip a writer up.

How the word is built

• arch (from Latin arcus: bow, curve)
• -ed (past tense / adjective suffix)