Arctic
adjectiveproper nounnouncommon in dialogue
- United Kingdom//ˈɑː(k).tɪk//
- United States//ˈɑɹ(k).tɪk//
Pertaining to the celestial north pole, or to the pole star.
adjective
- 1
Pertaining to the celestial north pole, or to the pole star.
- 2
Pertaining to the northern polar region of the planet, characterised by extreme cold and an icy landscape.
What neede the artick people loue star-light, To whom the sunne shines both by day and night.
[…] on th’ other side Incenc’t with indignation Satan stood Unterrifi’d, and like a Comet burn’d, That fires the length of Ophiucus huge In th’ Artick Sky, and from his horrid hair Shakes Pestilence and Warr.
A medical examination determined who was to be sent on to Norilsk in the Arctic.
- 3
Extremely cold, snowy, or having other properties of extreme winter associated with the climate of the Arctic.
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,
‘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.
Arctic gear
Etymology
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.
proper noun
- 1
obsoleteThe north celestial pole.
- 2
A continental region consisting of the portion of the Earth north of the Arctic Circle, containing the North Pole.
I’ve visited the world from arctic to ecliptic, as a surgeon does a hospital, and find all men sick of some distemper […]
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.
noun
- 1
historicalA warm waterproof overshoe.
- 2
Any of various butterflies of the genus Oeneis.
Forms
- plural
- Arctics
Arctic · Pertaining to the celestial north pole, or to the pole star.
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