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

In 25 years of flying, Ian Nixon had never faced anything like the crash that left him and ten passengers stranded for hours in the Atlantic Ocean, waiting to be rescued off Florida's east coast.

From BBC • May 14, 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

A corresponding example within Eurasia involved the eastern limit of Fertile Crescent crops, which spread rapidly westward to the Atlantic Ocean and eastward to the Indus Valley without encountering a major barrier.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond