Cold Words

A Polar Dictionary

By: Bernadette Hince

From aaqsiiq to zucchini, discover words and phrases from the world's polar regions.

This ‘ice-breaking’ book collects the English words of the Antarctic and the Arctic for the first time. These words relate to weather, ice and snow, auroras, clothes, food, housing, social structures, wildlife, plants, politics, as well as many other aspects of polar life. The terms are presented with scientific precision, a helpful interpretative commentary and moments of whimsy. + Full description

Apart from Antarctica and the Arctic, the regions covered here stretch to places as remote as the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Tristan da Cunha and the Falkland Islands.

- Short description

News

Sales in Australia and New Zealand only.

Details

Paperback | April 2025 | $ 59.99
ISBN: 9781486319459 | 472 pages | 245 x 170 mm
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
B&W photographs

Features

Gathers together polar English words in one volume.
Includes around 3,000 definitions, many of which appear in this dictionary for the first time.
Features over 12,000 quotations to provide context for each definition.

Foreword
Introduction
How to use this book
A - aaqsiiq to azorella
B - bachelor to Byrd cloth
C - caa’ing whale to cut-ups
D - Dahurian larch to dwarf willow
E - eaglet to eyelock
F - fachine to fur trading
G - gakti to gyrfalcon
H - hagemannite to hypertat
I - ice to ivu
J - jackass penguin to juobmo
K - kabloona to kvan
L - Labrador collared lemming to luminous cloud
M - mac to muttonbird sedge
N - nacreous cloud to NZARP
O - OAE to ozone hole
P - paamerak to pyramid tent
Q - qaaktak to quyana
R - rabbit to rufous-chested dotterel
S - SAB to sysselman
T - tab to two-foot high kick
U - ugli to uuraq
V - Vandal to VUWAE
W - wallow to wriggly tin
X Y Z - Yak to zucchini

Authors

Bernadette Hince is a dictionary-maker and natural historian with a passionate interest in language and the world’s cold places. She has written about polar food, words and environmental history. She is the author of The Antarctic Dictionary.