Arctic tern

or arctic tern

noun

a tern, Sterna paradisaea, resembling the common tern, that breeds in arctic and north temperate regions and winters in antarctic regions.

Origin of Arctic tern

First recorded in 1880–85

British Dictionary definitions for arctic tern

arctic tern

noun

a black-capped tern, Sterna paradisea, that breeds in the Arctic and then migrates as far south as the Antarctic