Arctic Meaning
/ˈɑː(k)tɪk/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjAlternative letter-case form of Arctic.
adjPertaining to the celestial north pole, or to the pole star.
Sentence Examples
Cape Dezhnev is 30 miles south of the Arctic Circle.
Polar bears live in the Arctic.
Are there many arctic foxes in the tundra?
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ expedition encountered temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ region is known for its extreme cold and polar bear population.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English artik, artyk (with -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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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, (please specify the page):
"[…] 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 as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 706-711:
"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,"
— 1788, Samuel Jackson Pratt, Humanity, or the Rights of Nature, London: T. Cadell, Book 2, p. 96:
"A medical examination determined who was to be sent on to Norilsk in the Arctic."
— 1968, Robert Conquest, “A Nation in Torment”, in The Great Terror: Stalin's Purge of the Thirties, Macmillan Company, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 327:
"‘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:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ expedition encountered temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ region is known for its extreme cold and polar bear population.