Atlantic

[at-lan-tik]

adjective

of or relating to the Atlantic Ocean.

of, relating to, or situated on the eastern seaboard of the U.S.: the Atlantic states.

of or relating to the countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean, especially those of North America and Europe.

of or relating to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or its members: the Atlantic Alliance.

noun

Atlantic Ocean.

Railroads. a steam locomotive having a four-wheeled front truck, four driving wheels, and a two-wheeled rear truck.

Origin of Atlantic

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin Atlanticum (mare) the Atlantic (ocean), neuter of Atlanticus < Greek Atlantikós of (Mount) Atlas, equivalent to Atlant- (stem of Átlās) + -ikos -ic

Related formssub-At·lan·tic, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for atlantic

Contemporary Examples of atlantic

There was Air France Flight 447, which fell into the south Atlantic in 2009.
Red Tape and Black Boxes: Why We Keep ‘Losing’ Airliners in 2014
Clive Irving
December 29, 2014
The Atlantic has reported extensively on the at least $600 million Amazon stands to be paid for handling CIA data.
How Amazon Became Santa’s Sweatshop
Sally Kohn
December 11, 2014
“The youngest old man any of us knows,” an unnamed friend of Atlantic Publisher David Bradley said of Hughes.
The Rise and Fall of Chris Hughes and Sean Eldridge, America’s Worst Gay Power Couple
James Kirchick
December 9, 2014
Much like the Taj Mahal, Revel opened in classically gaudy Atlantic City style in April 2012—with a sunrise Champagne toast.
I Watched a Casino Kill Itself: The Awful Last Nights of Atlantic City’s Taj Mahal
Olivia Nuzzi
December 8, 2014
Notoriously, Atlantic City did not get its first supermarket until 1996.
I Watched a Casino Kill Itself: The Awful Last Nights of Atlantic City’s Taj Mahal
Olivia Nuzzi
December 8, 2014

Historical Examples of atlantic

It ain't any trouble, because it's the first land you'll strike the other side of the Atlantic.
Tom Sawyer Abroad
Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
This was blockading the Atlantic against their enemies, and the Mediterranean against their own ships.
Ned Myers
James Fenimore Cooper
The brig sailed, however, and stood across the Atlantic, as if in good earnest.
Ned Myers
James Fenimore Cooper
Was it possible to submerge the cable in the Atlantic, and would it be safe at the bottom?
Heroes of the Telegraph
J. Munro
He it was who forged the shaft of the Savannah, the first steamship which crossed the Atlantic.
Heroes of the Telegraph
J. Munro

British Dictionary definitions for atlantic

Atlantic

noun

the Atlantic short for Atlantic Ocean

adjective

of or relating to or bordering the Atlantic Ocean

of or relating to Atlas or the Atlas Mountains

Word Origin for Atlantic

C15: from Latin Atlanticus, from Greek (pelagos) Atlantikos (the sea) of Atlas (so called because it lay beyond the Atlas Mountains)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for atlantic

Atlantic

late 14c., occean of Athlant "sea off the west coast of Africa" (early 15c. as occean Atlantyke), from Latin Atlanticus, from Greek Atlantikos "of Atlas," adjectival form of Atlas (genitive Atlantos), in reference to Mount Atlas in Mauritania (see Atlas). Applied to the whole ocean since c.1600.