arctic

UK/ˈɑː(k).tɪk//ˈɑɹ(k).tɪk/

arctic is the alternative letter-case form of Arctic.

Adjective capitalized: Arctic

Arctic (not comparable)

(in-compounds) Pertaining to the celestial north pole, or to the pole star.
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.1594, Christopher Marlow[e], The Troublesome Raigne and Lamentable Death of Edward the Second, King of England: […], London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press] for Henry Bell, […], published 1622, →OCLC...
- […] 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.1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
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...1788, Samuel Jackson Pratt, Humanity, or the Rights of Nature, London: T. Cadell, Book 2, p. 96
- ‘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, published 2010, page 45
Designed for use in very cold conditions.
- Arctic gear

Proper noun capitalized: Arctic

Arctic

(obsolete) The north celestial pole.
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 […]1772, Richard Cumberland, The Fashionable Lover, London: W. Griffin, act IV, page 46
- 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.1989 May, Jeff MacInnis, “Braving the Northwest Passage”, in National Geographic, volume 175, number 5, page 586

Noun capitalized: Arctic

Arctic (plural Arctics)

(US, historical) A warm waterproof overshoe.
Any of various butterflies of the genus Oeneis.

Forms of arctic

Noun
plural	arctics
plural	Arctics
Adjective
alternative form	arctic

Origin of arctic

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.

Words formed from arctic

Words that rhyme with arctic

Questions about arctic

What does arctic mean?: Arctic means pertaining to the celestial north pole, or to the pole star.
What is arctic the alternative letter-case form of?: Arctic is the alternative letter-case form of Arctic.
What part of speech is arctic?: Arctic can be an adjective, a proper noun or a noun.
How do you pronounce arctic?: Arctic is pronounced /ˈɑː(k).tɪk/ (UK).

Words near arctic in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: arctic (page history and authors); Arctic (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vininn126-arctic.wav.

Cite this entry: “arctic.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/arctic. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.