Wiktionary

Arctic

See also: arctic

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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    From Middle English artik, artyk (with the c reintroduced after Latin in the 17th century), from Medieval Latin articus, from Latin arcticus, from Ancient Greek ἀρκτικός (arktikós, “northern, of the (Great) Bear”), from ἄρκτος (árktos, “bear, Ursa Major”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ŕ̥tḱos (“bear”). Cognate with Latin ursus.

    Pronunciation

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    Adjective

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    Arctic (not comparable)

    1. (astronomy, now only in compounds) Pertaining to the celestial north pole, or to the pole star. [from 14th c.]
      (This entry needs quotations to illustrate usage. If you come across any interesting, durably archived quotes, then please add them!)
    2. (geography) Pertaining to the northern polar region of the planet, characterised by extreme cold and an icy landscape. [from 16th c.]
    3. Extremely cold, snowy, or having other properties of extreme winter associated with the climate of the Arctic. [from 16th c.]
      • 1788, Samuel Jackson Pratt, Humanity, or the Rights of Nature‎[2], London: T. Cadell, Book 2, p. 96:
        See freedom smiling thro’ the realms of frost,
        And glow on Labradore’s inclement coast,
        Tho’ darkness sheds deep night thro’ half the year,
        And snow invests the clime,—that clime is dear,
        For there fair liberty resides, and there
        At large the native breasts the searching air,
        Where blows the arctic tempests icy gale,
        And famine seizes on the spermy whale,
      • 1979, John Le Carré, Smiley's People, Folio Society, published 2010, page 45:
        ‘Could you close that window, please!’ Strickland called, dialling again. ‘It's bloody arctic down this end.’
    4. Designed for use in very cold conditions. [from 19th c.]
      Arctic gear

    Usage notes

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    • Similarly to Antarctic, the English word was originally pronounced without /k/, but the spelling pronunciation has become the more common one. The c was originally added to the spelling for etymological reasons, and its pronunciation followed thereafter.

    Translations

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    Proper noun

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    Arctic

    1. (obsolete) The north celestial pole. [15th–17th c.]
    3. A continental region consisting of the portion of the Earth north of the Arctic Circle, containing the North Pole. [from 17th c.]
      • 1772, Richard Cumberland, The Fashionable Lover‎[3], London: W. Griffin, act IV, page 46:
        I’ve visited the world from arctic to ecliptic, as a surgeon does a hospital, and find all men sick of some distemper […]
      • 1989 May, Jeff MacInnis, “Braving the Northwest Passage”, in National Geographic, volume 175, number 5, page 586:
        But no one had ever traversed the Northwest Passage under wind power alone. Inspired by my previous journeys to the Arctic and by journals of the early explorers, I had long hoped to sail the passage.

    Derived terms

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    Translations

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    Noun

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    Arctic (plural Arctics)

    1. (US, now chiefly historical) A warm waterproof overshoe. [from 19th c.]
    2. Any of various butterflies of the genus Oeneis. [from 20th c.]

    Translations

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    Anagrams

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