Antarctic
adjectiveproper nounattested in dialogue
- United Kingdom//ænˈtɑː(k)tɪk//
- United States//ænˈtɑɹ(k)tɪk//
Of, from, or pertaining to Antarctica and the south polar regions.
adjective
- 1
Of, from, or pertaining to Antarctica and the south polar regions.
We are likely to consider Antarctic English as an occupational variety of general English rather than a new regional variety, mainly because men go to work in the Antarctic for a period, intending to return. They are not settlers.
Scientists have known for years that the Thwaites glacier is the soft underbelly of the Antarctic ice sheet, and first found that it was unstable decades ago.
- 2
figurativeOpposite, contradictory.
- 3
obsoleteSouthern.
Etymology
From Middle English antartik, antartyk, from Middle French antartique, from Latin antarcticus, from Ancient Greek ἀνταρκτικός (antarktikós), from ἀντί (antí, “opposite”) + ἀρκτικός (arktikós, “Arctic”) + -ικός (-ikós, “-ic”). By surface analysis, anti- + Arctic.
proper noun
- 1
A continental region, one of the major ecozones of the world, covering the south polar regions, especially those south of the Antarctic Convergence; or, in accordance with the Antarctic Treaty System, the 60th parallel south.
Meronyms: Antarctica, Antarctic Ocean, Southern Ocean (south-of-60° sense)
Forms
- comparative
- more Antarctic
- superlative
- most Antarctic
Antarctic · Of, from, or pertaining to Antarctica and the south polar regions.
Antarctica · The southernmost continent, south of the Southern Ocean,…ante · Synonym of before, earlier in time, particularly used in…Ante · A surname.