boreal

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
boreal /ˈbɔːrɪəl/

▶adjective

• 1 chiefly Ecology of the North or northern regions, adjacent to or including the Arctic.

• 2 (Boreal) Geology relating to or denoting the second climatic stage of the postglacial period in northern Europe (about 9,000 to 7,500 years ago).

– origin ME: from late L. borealis, from L. Boreas, denoting the god of the north wind, from Gk.