Arch vs Main - What's the difference?
arch | main |
(senseid)An inverted U shape.
An arch-shaped arrangement of trapezoidal stones, designed to redistribute downward force outward.
(senseid)(architecture) An architectural element having the shape of an arch
Any place covered by an arch; an archway.
(archaic, geometry) An arc; a part of a curve.
To form into an arch shape
To cover with an arch or arches.
(senseid) Knowing, clever, mischievous.
* Tatler
* 1906 , O. Henry,
*
Principal; primary.
* Shakespeare
(obsolete) A chief.
* Shakespeare
(label) Great in size or degree; vast; strong; powerful; important.
* (Samuel Daniel) (1562-1619)
Principal; prime; chief; leading; of chief or principal importance.
* (John Tillotson) (1630-1694)
* , chapter=7
, title= *{{quote-book, year=1935, author=
, title=Death on the Centre Court, chapter=5
, passage=By one o'clock the place was choc-a-bloc. […] The restaurant was packed, and the promenade between the two main courts and the subsidiary courts was thronged with healthy-looking youngish people, drawn to the Mecca of tennis from all parts of the country.}}
Principal or chief in size or extent; largest; consisting of the largest part; most important by reason or size or strength.
* (John Milton) (1608-1674)
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-03, volume=408, issue=8847, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= Full; undivided; sheer (of strength, force etc.).
* 1817 , (Walter Scott), , XII:
(label) Belonging to or connected with the principal mast in a vessel.
(label) Big; angry.
Very; very much; greatly; mightily; extremely; exceedingly.
* 1799 , Samuel Foote, The works of Samuel Foote :
* 1840 , Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Leigh Hunt, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The dramatic works of Richard Brinsley Sheridan :
* Spenser
That which is chief or principal; the chief or main portion; the gross; the bulk; the greater part.
* Francis Bacon
* 1858 , Humphrey Prideaux, James Talboys Wheeler, An historical connection of the Old and New Testaments :
* Francis Bacon
* 1624 , John Smith, Generall Historie , in Kupperman 1988, page 90:
* 1624 , John Donne, Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions, and severall steps in my Sicknes (Meditation XVII):
* 1851 , Herman Melville, Moby-Dick :
* Dryden
A large pipe or cable providing utility service to a building or area, such as water main or electric main.
(label) The mainsail.
A hand or match in a game of dice.
A stake played for at dice.
* Shakespeare, The First Park of King Henry IV
The largest throw in a match at dice; a throw at dice within given limits, as in the game of hazard.
A match at cockfighting.
* Thackeray
A main-hamper, or fruit basket.
In obsolete terms the difference between arch and main
is that arch is a chief while main is great in size or degree; vast; strong; powerful; important.As nouns the difference between arch and main
is that arch is (inverted U shape)An inverted U shape while main is strength; power; force; violent effort.As adjectives the difference between arch and main
is that arch is (knowing) Knowing, clever, mischievous while main is great in size or degree; vast; strong; powerful; important.As a verb arch
is to form into an arch shape.As an adverb main is
very; very much; greatly; mightily; extremely; exceedingly.As a proper noun Main is
a river in southern Germany, flowing from Bavaria to the Rhine.arch
Etymology 1
From (etyl), from (etyl) .Noun
(es)- to pass into the arch of a bridge
References
*Verb
- The cat arched its back
Etymology 2
From the prefix . "Principal" is the original sense; "mischievous" is via onetime frequent collocation with rogue, knave, etc.Adjective
(er)- I attempted to hide my emotions, but an arch remark escaped my lips.
- [He] spoke his request with so arch a leer.
- A certain melancholy that touched her countenance must have been of recent birth, for it had not yet altered the fine and youthful contours of her cheek, nor subdued the arch though resolute curve of her lips.
- Lassiter ended there with dry humor, yet behind that was meaning. Jane blushed and made arch eyes at him.
- the most arch act of piteous massacre
Derived terms
* (l)Noun
(es)- My worthy arch and patron comes to-night.
External links
* * *Anagrams
* ----main
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) (m), (m), (m), partly from (etyl) . More at (may).Adjective
(-)The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=With some of it on the south and more of it on the north of the great main thoroughfare that connects Aldgate and the East India Docks, St. Bede's at this period of its history was perhaps the poorest and most miserable parish in the East End of London.}}
George Goodchild
Yesterday’s fuel, passage=The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania.
Derived terms
* main drag * main roadAdverb
(en adverb)Etymology 2
From (etyl) , later also taking senses from the adjective.Noun
(en noun)Quotations
* (English Citations of "main")Derived terms
{{der3, (large pipe or cable) gas main, mains (qualifier), water main , in the main , main brace , main drag , maincrop , mainframe , mainland , mainline, main line , mainmast , mainplane , mainsail , mainsheet , mainspring , mainstreet, main street , maintop , maintopmast}}Etymology 3
; compare (manual).Noun
(en noun)- (Prior)
- (Thackeray)
- (Ainsworth)