Lewis & Short

arto (not arcto), āvi, ātum, 1, v. a. [1. artus], to draw or press close together, to compress, contract (not found in Cic.).

  1. I.
    1. A. Lit.: omnia conciliatu artari possunt, * Lucr. 1, 576: libros, Mart. 1, 3, 3; Col. 12, 44, 2: vitis contineri debet vimine, non artari, Plin. 17, 23, 35, § 209: angustias eas artantibus insulis parvis, quae etc., id. 3, 6, 13, § 83.
    2. B. Trop., to contract, straiten, limit, curtail: fortuna humana fingit artatque ut lubet, i. e. in angustias redigit, Plaut. Capt. 2, 2, 54 Lind.; Liv. 45, 56: tempus, to limit, circumscribe, Dig. 42, 1, 2; 38, 9, 1: se, to limit one’s self, to retrench, ib. 1, 11, 2 al.
  2. II. In gen., to finish, conclude, Petr. 85, 4.
    Hence, artātus, a, um, P. a., contracted into a small compass; hence, narrow, close; and of time, short: pontus, Luc. 5, 234: tempus, Vell. 1, 16.