Antarctica

name

Etymology: From New Latin Antarctica, from Ancient Greek ἀνταρκτικός (antarktikós), from ἀντι- (anti-, “anti-, against, opposed”) + ἀρκτικός (arktikós, “Arctic”), from ἄρκτος (árktos, “bear”).

1. The southernmost continent, south of the Southern Ocean, containing the South Pole.

   “The five largest islands or peninsulas in which the crests of the World Ridges break through the uniform covering of the hydrosphere are termed continents, and designated by the names Eurasia, Africa, North America, South America, and Australia. They are distinguished from other islands and peninsulas by size alone, Australia being ten times larger than New Guinea, and Africa ten times larger than Arabia, these being the greatest island and peninsula not called continents. The elevated region round the South Pole is crowned by the unexplored and scarcely discovered continent of Antarctica.”

   “Dr. Murray believes that Alexander I. Land is a part of the west coast of Graham's Land, and that this landmass, which Biscoe and Larsen proved to widen rapidly toward the south, is only a peninsula of the continent of Antarctica.”

2. the Antarctic