Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • A region between the North Pole and the northern timberlines of North America and Eurasia.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun A region of the Earth above the Arctic Circle, containing the North Pole.
  • adjective Of or pertaining to the Arctic.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French artique (with -c- reintroduced after Latin in the 17th century), from Latin arcticus, from Ancient Greek ἀρκτικός ("northern, of the (Great) Bear"), from ἄρκτος ("bear, Ursa Major").

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