Atlantis
[at-lan-tis]
- a legendary island, first mentioned by Plato, said to have existed in the Atlantic Ocean west of Gibraltar and to have sunk beneath the sea, but linked by some modern archaeologists with the island of Thera, the surviving remnant of a much larger island destroyed by a volcanic eruption c1500 b.c.
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Compare Akrotíri.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for atlantis
Contemporary Examples
The philosopher, Plato, linked Santorini with the mythical lost city of Atlantis that sank beneath the waves.
His 1985 novel Masters of Atlantis concerns the plight of the Gnomons, a group dedicated to sharing the mysteries of Atlantis.
In Masters of Atlantis, newspaper people “treat as pests those who walk in off the street with inquiries, or even news.”
Yet, unlike such Grail-oriented conspiracies (and Atlantis, yetis and UFOs), the Shroud very definitely exists.
The Shroud is generally lumped in with silly-season subjects, such as Atlantis, yetis, and UFOs.
Historical Examples
Mighty as is the industrial civilization of your day, that of Atlantis was mightier.
The Heads of ApexFrancis Flagg
Of course, the country wasn't then called Atlantis; its real name was A-zooma.
The Heads of ApexFrancis Flagg
The most famous of them all was the overthrow of the island of Atlantis.
TimaeusPlato
The tale of Atlantis is the fabric of a vision, but it has never ceased to interest mankind.
TimaeusPlato
Did Plato derive the legend of Atlantis from an Egyptian source?
TimaeusPlato
Atlantis
- (in ancient legend) a continent said to have sunk beneath the Atlantic Ocean west of the Straits of Gibraltar
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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 atlantis
Atlantis
mythical island-nation, from Greek Atlantis, literally "daughter of Atlas." All references trace to Plato's dialogues "Timaeus" and "Critias," both written c.360 B.C.E.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Atlantis
A kingdom in classical mythology. According to legend, it was once an island in the Atlantic Ocean, was swallowed up in an earthquake, and is now covered by the sea.
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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.