We have the arctic.
And we have a linguistic rule that says you can make something mean the the opposite by adding an “a” (or “an” if needed to account for an initial vowel/H sound) prefix:
Social; asocial
Hedonia; anhedonia
Symptomatic; asymptomatic
Moral; amoral
And so on.
So why do we have “arctic” and “antarctic”? Shouldn’t it be “anarctic”?
I think it’s more a play on “anti,” as in opposite, than “a” as in without or not. See also “antipode”.
Antarctica (the Antarctic) is directly opposite to the Arctic on the globe. It is antipodal to it.
Also, it’s Antarctica. Two c’s (which I say not to be pedantic, but because it more clearly fits within the anti/opposite framework).
The a-, an- prefix doesn’t mean “the opposite” it means “without”. The opposite of social is not asocial; it’s antisocial. The opposite of moral is not amoral; it’s immoral. And so forth.
Ant-, anti- is the prefex most commonly used to indicate opposition. The antarctic region is so called because it’s opposite (geographically speaking) the arctic region. Antarctica takes its name from the antarctic region. Although the existence of a large land mass in the antarctic region had been postulated since antiquity, it wasn’t discovered until 1820.
Thank you @ASL_v2.0 and @UDS1 - of course, you are right. Shame on me, both for my misspelling of “Antarctica” and my failure to distinguish between the “a” prefix meaning “without” and “anti” meaning opposite.
If you’re intersted, this link takes you to the Etymology section of the article on Antarctica. Here’s a snippet:
The name given to the continent originates from the word antarctic , which comes from Middle French antartique or antarctique (‘opposite to the Arctic’) and, in turn, the Latin antarcticus (‘opposite to the north’). Antarcticus is derived from the Greek ἀντι- (‘anti-’) and ἀρκτικός (‘of the Bear’, ‘northern’).
So in essence, the word “Antarctica” means “the place opposite of where the bears live”.
I like that.
Whereas “Anarctica” would mean “a place with no bears”, which may be accurate, but also applies to plenty of other places.
The “bear” reference in the word “arctic” doesn’t refer to physical bears, but to the constellation Ursa Major, the Great Bear, which is in the northern sky.
Otherwise the Arctic might be called the Antispheniscidae. Doesn’t have the same ring to it.
Anyone who feels like using “Arctica” and “Antipheniscida” as names for the polar regions in your D&D setting, go for it.
Spelling fixed in title.
Now that the question has been answered, if I may:
I just learned that Australia, east, and Easter are all related. The root idea is probably the rising sun, in the south-east (from Europe) – the australis wind from that direction, and a newly discovered land to the south. Easter is all about fertility – the new growth of spring – which is analogous to daybreak. (Easter probably was some pagan goddess, but not Ishtar, as many think.)
Another surprising cognate pair: tire and attire. You really do “clothe” your vehicle with those rubber things.
I mention this mainly to turn fellow Dopers on to a terrific podcast, Because Language. It’s been running for several years, but somehow I’d missed it. Three language experts have guest interviews and such; it appeals to a wide range of familiarity levels, I think.
Doesn’t that other bear get any credit here?
Technically, it’s the wheels that are clothed, not the entire vehicle.
Couldn’t we just rename it then: Penguinland!
Not precise enough, I am afraid. There are penguins up to the equator in the Galapagos Islands.
See above.
Continents without bears: Africa, Australia/Oceania, Antarctica.
But there are polar bears below the Arctic circle, in Hudson Bay. General wording is sufficient.
There are polar bears in the very North Pole, at least occasionally, but no penguins close to the South Pole. Here are the known emperor penguin colonies (the four in red were recently discovered):
Antarctica is surrounded by penguins, perhaps we could settle for perispheniscidae?
Since they’ve completely surrounded the continent that raises a question in my mind …
Are they now
Is this their new Promised Land of paradise, or their prison? 
Heavily armed from Oswald Cobblepot’s stash:
