“Surprise: apse is a word that began as an arch.”
Latin apsis meant a rounded arch or a vault. It was borrowed from Greek ἁψίς (hapsís), "arch" or "vault." The term described a curved structure. It was an architectural word from the start.
In late antique churches, the word shifted to the semicircular recess at the end of a basilica. By the 4th and 5th centuries, the apse held the altar and bishop's seat. The curve became a spatial label. Architecture turned the term into a place.
Medieval Latin kept apsis, and Old French produced apside and apse. The term entered English by the late 1500s. It remained technical and ecclesiastical. The meaning stayed stable.
Modern English uses apse for the semicircular or polygonal termination of a church, or any similar architectural recess. The Greek arch sense is still visible. The word has stayed close to its built origins. Its history is a straight line from arch to space.
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Today
Apse is the rounded end or recess of a building, especially at the east end of a church. It names a distinctive architectural shape.
The word stays technical and tied to the curve it describes. "A curve made sacred."
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