Arctic Ocean

American  

[ahrk-tik oh-shuhn, ahr-tik] / ˈɑrk tɪk ˈoʊ ʃən, ˈɑr tɪk /

noun

1. the smallest of the world’s five principal oceans, located north of North America, Asia, and the Arctic Circle, with its deepest section within the Greenland Sea. 6,007,000 square miles (15,558,000 square kilometers).

---

Arctic Ocean British  

noun

1. the ocean surrounding the North Pole, north of the Arctic Circle. Area: about 14 100 000 sq km (5 440 000 sq miles)

---

Arctic Ocean Cultural  

1. The cold, ice-covered waters surrounding the North Pole, located entirely within the Arctic Circle. It contains the northernmost islands of Canada, Norway, and Russia.

---

Discover More

Most of the Arctic Ocean is covered by solid ice, ice floes, and icebergs.

Etymology

Origin of Arctic Ocean

First recorded in 1780–90

Example Sentences

Almost two dozen white boxes to the east, southeast and across the Arctic Ocean from Svalbard marked the locations of Russian military bases.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 21, 2026

"No matter how many aircraft carriers you have and how much you use them to threaten states with, you cannot sail your aircraft carrier into the central Arctic Ocean," she says.

From BBC • Jan. 18, 2026

Greenland sits where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Arctic Ocean.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 16, 2026

Samples and measurements were collected at 13 sites across the central Arctic Ocean, including regions off northeast Greenland and north of Svalbard.

From Science Daily • Oct. 21, 2025

No blue sea would be lapping the shores of Barrow; instead the Arctic Ocean would be a roaring white cauldron forming ice that would join the land with the polar cap.

From "Julie of the Wolves" by Jean Craighead George