Arctic
See also: arctic
EnglishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle French artique (with -c- reintroduced after Latin in the 17th century), 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 to Latin ursus.
PronunciationEdit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈɑː(k)tɪk/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈɑɹ(k)tɪk/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)tɪk, -ɑː(ɹ)ktɪk
Usage notesEdit
- The 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 returned thereafter.
AdjectiveEdit
Arctic (not comparable)
- (astronomy, now only in compounds) Pertaining to the celestial north pole, or to the pole star. [from 14th c.]
- (geography) Pertaining to the northern polar region of the planet, characterised by extreme cold and an icy landscape. [from 16th c.]
- 1594, Christopher Marlowe, Edward II, London: William Jones,[1]
- What neede the artick people loue star-light,
- To whom the sunne shines both by day and night.
- 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, London, 1668, Book 2, lines 706-711,[2]
- […] 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.
- 1788, Samuel Jackson Pratt, Humanity, or the Rights of Nature, London: T. Cadell, Book 2, p. 96,[3]
- 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,
- 1594, Christopher Marlowe, Edward II, London: William Jones,[1]
- Extremely cold, snowy, or having other properties of extreme winter associated with the Arctic. [from 16th c.]
- 1979, John Le Carré, Smiley's People, Folio Society 2010, p. 45:
- ‘Could you close that window, please!’ Strickland called, dialling again. ‘It's bloody arctic down this end.’
- 1979, John Le Carré, Smiley's People, Folio Society 2010, p. 45:
- Designed for use in very cold conditions. [from 19th c.]
Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
pertaining to the northern polar region of the planet
|
|
cold, snowy, or having other properties of extreme winter associated with the Arctic
Proper nounEdit
Arctic
- (obsolete) The north celestial pole. [15th-17th c.]
- (geography) The region of the Earth above the Arctic Circle, containing the North Pole. [from 17th c.]
- 1772, Richard Cumberland, The Fashionable Lover, London: W. Griffin, Act IV, p. 46,[4]
- I’ve visited the world from arctic to ecliptic, as a surgeon does a hospital, and find all men sick of some distemper […]
- 1772, Richard Cumberland, The Fashionable Lover, London: W. Griffin, Act IV, p. 46,[4]
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
a region of the Earth
|
|
NounEdit
Arctic (plural Arctics)
- (US, now chiefly historical) A warm waterproof overshoe. [from 19th c.]
- Any of various butterflies of the genus Oeneis. [from 20th c.]
Usage notesEdit
- Like Antarctic, this 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 returned thereafter.