ark

name

1. The boat built by the Biblical Noah to carry himself and the animals of the planet during the Flood.
2. The chest carried by the Hebrews containing the stone tablets carved with the Ten Commandments.

noun

Etymology: From Middle English arke, from Old English earc, ærc, from Latin arca (“chest, box, coffer”), from arceō (“to enclose”).

1. A large box with a flat lid.

   “Then said he, "Your child is at home in the inner bedroom in a new cradle behind the ark."”

2. The ship built by Noah to save his family and a collection of animals from the deluge; Noah's ark.

   “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.”

3. Something affording protection; safety, shelter, refuge.

   “the Ark of Bukhara”

4. The body as a vessel.

   “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 […]”

5. A spacious type of boat with a flat bottom.

   “Some seventy or seventy-five arks were permanently located on McLeod's Lake and between 110 and 125 people lived in them.”

6. The Ark of the Covenant.
7. A decorated cabinet at the front of a synagogue, in which Torah scrolls are kept.