arctic

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɑː(k).tɪk/ (UK); /ˈɑɹ(k).tɪk/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English artik, borrowed from Old French artique and directly from Medieval Latin articus,^[2][3][4] from Latin arcticus, from Greek ἀρκτικός (arktikós, “of the north”), literally of the Bear,^[2][3] from ἄρκτος (árktos, “bear; the Great Bear; the north”),^[2][3][4] from the usual PIE word for bear, *rtko-, also in Latin ursus.^[2][3] The Bear is Ursa Major, the best-known constellation always seen in the north, not the polar bear.^[5][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of the north pole of the heavens: about 1391, in Chaucer's Treatise on the Astrolabe.^[6][3]

Semantic evolution

The -c- was restored after Latin from the 1550s;^[2] Robert Recorde has arctike in 1556.^[3] In Middle English it was usually of the heavens; of the earth, northern, it is from the early 15th century.^[2] As a noun, the north polar regions, with capital A, it is from the 1560s (1569).^[2][6] The figurative sense, extremely cold, is from the 1660s (1670).^[2][6] The Arctic fox is from 1772,^[6] and in American use arctics are waterproof overshoes (1867).^[6][7]

Timeline

• c. 1391 – of the north pole of the heavens.^[6]
• early 15th century – northern.^[2]
• 1556 – the spelling arctike.^[3]
• 1569 – the Arctic (noun).^[6]
• 1670 – extremely cold.^[6]
• 1867 – overshoes (US).^[6]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. (often Arctic) Of or relating to the regions around the North Pole.
2. (informal) Extremely cold; frigid.

Noun

1. (the Arctic) The region north of the Arctic Circle.
2. (US) A warm waterproof overshoe.

Word family

• arctically
• superarctic
• Arctic Archipelago

Related words

• Antarctic
• Arcturus
• ursine
• bear

Usage notes

Barnhart notes that the pronunciation without the first k sound, once standard, reflects the earlier spelling artic.^[3]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin