See Also: Arctic(medicine)
Arctic Air(tourism)
Arctic(dictionary)
Arctic fox(encyclopedia)
Arctic(dictionary)
Arctic (as used in expressions)(encyclopedia)
Arctic Circle Air(tourism)
arctic regions(medicine)
Arctic Air flights(tourism)
Arctic Air code(tourism)

Arctic (iou)



Arctic adjective & noun. Also arctic; (earlier) Artic. LME.
[Old French artique (mod. arct-) from Latin ar(c)ticus from Greek arktikos, from arktos bear, the Great Bear (constellation): see -IC.]
A. adjective.
Of or pertaining to the north pole, or the north polar regions. Formerly also gen., northern. LME.
Arctic Circle the parallel of latitude 66 33' N. Arctic Ocean the (chiefly ice-covered) ocean bounded by the north coasts of Eurasia and N. America.
b. Designating animals and plants of northern species. L18.
Arctic char, Arctic cisco, Arctic grayling, Arctic skipper, Arctic skua, Arctic willow, etc. Arctic fox a small fox, Alopex lagopus, whose coat turns white in winter and which occurs on the tundra of Eurasia and N. America; the fur of this fox. Arctic hare (a) a hare, Lepus arcticus, of Greenland and Arctic Canada, whose coat is brown in summer and white in winter; (b) = MOUNTAIN hare. Arctic tern a migratory tern, Sterna paradisaea, which breeds mainly in northern Eurasia and N. America but winters mainly in Antarctic regions.
c. (Usu. arctic.) Characterized by or typical of the very cold climate of the north polar regions. L19.
fig. Bitterly cold. Formerly also, extreme, remote. L17.
b. noun.
The north polar regions. LME.
In pl. (arctic.) Thick waterproof overshoes. N. Amer. M19.