Palearctic

adj, name

adj, name ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Relating to the Palearctic.
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    One of the major ecozones of the world, covering Europe, the former territories of the USSR, part of North Africa, and North Asia including the Himalaya foothills.

Etymology

Etymology 1

Coined by English zoologist, ornithologist, and lawyer Philip Sclater in 1858 as one of the six general groupings of fauna, based on shared biogeography and large-scale geographic barriers to migration. Derived from paleo- + Arctic in contrast to neo- + Arctic (Nearctic), in reference to the Northern ("Arctic") portions of the Old World and the New World respectively.

Etymology 2

Adjectival form of Palearctic, mirroring the relation between Arctic and arctic.

Related phrases

Western Palearcticnorth africa

More for "palearctic"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.