Mercator

American  

[mer-key-ter, mer-kah-tawr] / mərˈkeɪ tər, mɛrˈkɑ tɔr /

noun

1. Gerhardus Gerhard Kremer, 1512–94, Flemish cartographer and geographer.

---

adjective

1. noting, pertaining to, or according to the principles of a Mercator projection.

   a Mercator chart.

Mercator British  

/ mɜːˈkeɪtə /

noun

1. Gerardus (dʒəˈrɑːdəs). Latinized name of Gerhard Kremer. 1512–94, Flemish cartographer and mathematician

---

Mercator Scientific  

/ mər-kā′tər /

1. Flemish cartographer who in 1568 developed the Mercator projection. In 1585 he began work on a book of maps of Europe, a project that was later completed by his son and published in 1595. As a result of the drawing of the Greek titan Atlas carrying the globe on his shoulders on the book's cover, the term “atlas” was subsequently applied to any book of maps.

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Mercator

It turns out that it’s difficult to squish a sphere into a flat rectangle without some disfigurement, but the Mercator errors have finally led to pushback.

From Salon ● Sep. 10, 2026

But to do this, it sacrifices the straight lines that made the Mercator projection perfect for navigating with - and it cannot be used for measuring the true distance between different places.

From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026

Beijing "tolerated" it for a while, but "the Manus case marks a major turning point" as the US-China AI race heats up, Wendy Chang at the Mercator Institute for China Studies told AFP in April.

From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026

“It’s not that China becomes more attractive, but it becomes more necessary,” said Mikko Huotari, executive director of the Berlin-based Mercator Institute for China Studies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 27, 2026

I angle toward a Mercator craft bobbing mid-river, its oars at rest.

From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir