Ark

[Lady Liz]

Hi!

I know the common meaning of 'ark' is boat, but can this term also be a synonym of chest/coffer/box?


Thanks!

 

[riquecohen]

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ark See definition 2 at this link. The word arca has a Latin origin, which is the same in Portuguese.

I imagine the word is not much used these days as a synonym for chest, except in Jewish ritual.

 

[Tdol]

An ark of clothes, for example, wouldn't work.

 

[Lady Liz]

So you might say "pirate chest", or you have another term...? Thks!

 

[probus]

I might indeed say "pirate chest". "Treasure chest" would be a popular alternative.

 

[emsr2d2]

The only use I know of it with that definition is "Raiders of the Lost Ark", the first Indiana Jones film. I know a couple of people who thought it was about someone who had mislaid a huge boat. ;-)

 

[charliedeut]

I didn't know one could ride a boat, irrespective of its size! :-D

 

[emsr2d2]

"Raiders" Charliedeut, not "Riders".

 

[charliedeut]

I'm well aware of that. Hence, the intended pun. Sorry if I failed

 

[emsr2d2]

Oh. Sorry.

 

[Roman55]

It's not just the Jews who use the word "ark" as a chest.

The Ark of the Covenant, said to be the chest containing the stone tablets on which the ten commandments were chiseled, is part of the Bible and thus Christian lore.

Is that the same Ark that was lost and subsequently raided, emsr2d2?

 

[emsr2d2]

Raiders of the Lost Ark certainly referred to the Ark of the Covenant. That's as far as my religious knowledge goes!

 

[charliedeut]

Which, I believe, belongs to the Judeo-Christian tradition (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ark_of_the_Covenant).