What does Antarctic literally mean?

Answer 1

Opposite of Arctic.

Antarctica is a continent located at and around the south pole; it is at the opposite end of the planet from the arctic ocean.

More information:

The word Antarctica comes from the Greek. It means "opposite of the bear", referring to the word Arctos, which is a constellation that can only be seen in the northern hemisphere.

More than 2000 years ago, Greek writers described a large mass of land in the south of the world. Even though they had never seen it, they believed it must exist so that it could 'balance' the land they knew about in the northern half of the world. They named this imagined land 'Anti-Arktos', meaning the 'opposite of the Arctic'.
Antarctic means the opposite of Arctic. The Arctic is the region surrounding the North Pole, so the Antarctic is the region surrounding the opposite pole (which is the South Pole).

Answer 2

Antarctic literally means "opposite of the Arctic," as it is located at the opposite end of the Earth from the Arctic region. The name is derived from the Greek word "antarktikos," which means "opposite the Bear," referring to the constellation Ursa Major, which is prominent in the northern sky near the Arctic.