ἄρκτος

• ἄρκος (árkos)

From Proto-Indo-European *h₂ŕ̥tḱos (“bear”). Cognates include Latin ursus, Sanskrit ऋक्ष (ṛ́kṣa), Old Armenian արջ (arǰ), and Albanian ari. The meaning of “north” derives from Ἄρκτος (Árktos, “Ursa Major”), because the constellation is in the northern part of the sky.

ᾰ̓́ρκτος • (árktos) f (genitive ᾰ̓́ρκτου); second declension

1. bear
2. the north

• → English: Arcturus
• Greek: άρκτος (árktos), αρκούδα (arkoúda)
• → Latin: arctus, Arctos, Arctus, Arctūrus
• Pontic Greek: άρκος (árkos)
• Translingual: Ursus arctos, Ursus arctos horribilis

• “ἄρκτος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἄρκτος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ἄρκτος”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• ἄρκτος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ἄρκτος in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• ἄρκτος in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• ἄρκτος in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • arctic idem, page 38.
  • arctus idem, page 38.
  • bear idem, page 66.
  • north idem, page 562.