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an imaginary line drawn parallel to the equator, at 23°28prime; S of the North Pole: between the North Frigid Zone and the North Temperate Zone.
Contemporary Examples

Video journalist Kieron Bryan was captured while filming a Greenpeace protest in the Arctic Circle.
Kieron Bryan: British Journalist Held Without Trial in Russia Nico Hines September 26, 2013

We were bound for Bettles, Alaska, which sits 35 miles north of the Arctic Circle and has a current population of 15 people.
Visiting the Arctic Circle…Before It’s Irreversibly Changed Terry Greene Sterling March 31, 2014

We were a bit overdressed for our trip north of the Arctic Circle.
Visiting the Arctic Circle…Before It’s Irreversibly Changed Terry Greene Sterling March 31, 2014

If snow is more your thing, the 6633 Extreme Winter Ultramarathon runs 350 miles across the Arctic Circle.
Now That Everest Is Closed, Check Out These Other Extreme Adventures Nina Strochlic May 7, 2014

Bettles, Alaska has been a gateway for intrepid travelers who want to explore the pristine wilderness of the Arctic Circle.
Visiting the Arctic Circle…Before It’s Irreversibly Changed Terry Greene Sterling March 31, 2014

Historical Examples

South of the Arctic Circle there is no such thing as midnight sun or as a day without sunrise.
Peeps at Many Lands: Norway A.F. Mockler-Ferryman

But what temperature has been reached above the Arctic Circle?
The Voyages and Adventures of Captain Hatteras Jules Verne

In weasels from north of the Arctic Circle the longest facial vibrissae extend posteriorly beyond the posterior border of the ear.
American Weasels E. Raymond Hall

Head lettuce and cucumbers in mid-winter, inside the Arctic Circle?
Panther Eye Roy J. Snell

The Arctic Circle was recrossed on the 4th of October, exactly fifteen months after it had been crossed on the northward voyage.
Our Sailors W.H.G. Kingston

noun
the imaginary circle round the earth, parallel to the equator, at latitude 66° 32′ N; it marks the northernmost point at which the sun appears above the level of the horizon on the winter solstice

1550s, in reference to a celestial circle, a line around the sky which, in any location, bounds the stars which are ever-visible from that latitude (in the Northern Hemisphere, this is focused on the celestial north pole); the concept goes back to the ancient Greeks, for whom this set of constellations included most prominently the two bears (arktoi), hence the name for the circle (see arctic). Of Earth, the circle 66 degrees 32 minutes north of the equator, marking the southern extremity of the polar day, it is recorded from 1620s.
Arctic Circle
(ärk’tĭk)
The parallel of latitude approximately 66°33′ north. It forms the boundary between the North Temperate and North Frigid zones.

Imaginary circle around the Earth about three-quarters of the way from the equator to the North Pole. North of this line is the “Land of the Midnight Sun,” where the sun never sets on the summer solstice.

Note: The Arctic Circle corresponds to the Antarctic Circle in the Southern Hemisphere.