Atlantic Ocean

American  

[at-lan-tik oh-shuhn] / ætˈlæn tɪk ˈoʊ ʃən /

Often the Atlantic

noun

1. an ocean bounded by North America and South America in the Western Hemisphere and by Europe and Africa in the Eastern Hemisphere, with its deepest section in the Puerto Rico Trench: divided by the equator into the North Atlantic Ocean and the South Atlantic Ocean. 32,870,000 square miles (85,133,000 square kilometers).

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Atlantic Ocean British  

noun

1. the world's second largest ocean, bounded in the north by the Arctic, in the south by the Antarctic, in the west by North and South America, and in the east by Europe and Africa. Greatest depth: 9220 m (30 246 ft). Area: about 81 585 000 sq km (31 500 000 sq miles)

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Atlantic Ocean Cultural  

1. Second-largest ocean in the world, separating North America and South America on the west from Europe and Africa on the east.

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Etymology

Origin of Atlantic Ocean

First recorded in 1600–10

Example Sentences

Researchers from the University of Edinburgh sought answers by examining more than 20 years of ocean sampling data collected from Fram Strait, a key passage where Arctic waters flow into the Atlantic Ocean.

From Science Daily • May 28, 2026

The public prosecution had argued that the plane maker and the airline’s negligence “undeniably contributed” to the crash of flight AF447 over the Atlantic Ocean in 2009.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 21, 2026

The Paris Appeals Court found the airline and aircraft manufacturer guilty of corporate manslaughter over the incident, in which flight AF447 between Rio de Janeiro and Paris crashed into the Atlantic Ocean.

From BBC • May 21, 2026

Just days after its first-quarter earnings report, Moderna was thrust back into the spotlight amid growing concern that an outbreak on a cruise ship in the South Atlantic Ocean could spill over into something bigger.

From Barron's • May 13, 2026

From the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River, and south from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico was one of the most fertile agricultural belts in the world.

From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz