boreas "north wind, north" which, according to Ovid, was personified as the wind-god Boreas, the father of Calais and Zetes. Septentrionalis is from septentriones, "the seven plow oxen", a name of Ursa Major. The Greek ???????? (arktikós) is named for the same constellation, and is the source of the English word Arctic.

Other languages have other derivations.