atlas
- a bound collection of maps.
- a bound volume of charts, plates, or tables illustrating any subject.
- Anatomy. the first cervical vertebra, which supports the head.
- a size of drawing or writing paper, 26 × 34 or 33 inches.
- Also called telamon. Architecture. a sculptural figure of a man used as a column.
Origin of atlas
Atlas
- Classical Mythology. a Titan, son of Iapetus and brother of Prometheus and Epimetheus, condemned to support the sky on his shoulders: identified by the ancients with the Atlas Mountains.
- a person who supports a heavy burden; a mainstay.
- CharlesAngelo Siciliano, 1894–1972, U.S. body-building advocate, born in Italy.
- a liquid-propellant booster rocket, originally developed as the first U.S. ICBM, used with Agena or Centaur upper stages to launch satellites into orbit around the earth and send probes to the moon and planets; also used to launch the Mercury spacecraft into orbit around the earth.
Related Words
picture, sketch, outline, graph, design, plan, print, drawing, essay, album, novel, publication, dictionary, pamphlet, text, work, manual, textbook, fiction, volumeExamples from the Web for atlas
Contemporary Examples
The Delta IV can carry a larger payload into low earth orbit than the Atlas V, 60,779 lbs.
“The lair of the laser loves all of you,” he tells a visiting Atlas Obscura tour group.
The plane bore a massive blue-and-gold image of Atlas balancing the globe on his back.
And Alan Greenspan, clutching a copy of Atlas Shrugged, boils in a bath of molten gold.
Atlas, an 18-year-old boy, believes that bitcoin is the “future of everything.”
Historical Examples
The whole rested on a golden image of Atlas, bending beneath the weight.
PhilotheaLydia Maria Child
"None of them are quite high enough," said Atlas, shaking his head.
The Three Golden ApplesNathaniel Hawthorne
Consulting my atlas to get my bearings I now ventured forth.
City of Endless NightMilo Hastings
"We haven't got ready for one yet," said Lucy, deep in an atlas.
We hunted out an atlas, and laid the map of England before us on the table.
The Stark Munro LettersJ. Stark Munro
atlas
- a collection of maps, usually in book form
- a book of charts, graphs, etc, illustrating aspects of a subjectan anatomical atlas
- anatomy the first cervical vertebra, attached to and supporting the skull in manCompare axis 1
- plural atlantes architect another name for telamon
- a standard size of drawing paper, 26 × 17 inches
Word Origin
Atlas
- Greek myth a Titan compelled to support the sky on his shoulders as punishment for rebelling against Zeus
- a US intercontinental ballistic missile, also used in launching spacecraft
- astronomy a small satellite of Saturn, discovered in 1980
Word Origin and History for atlas
Atlas
1580s, Titan, son of Iapetus and Clymene, supposed to uphold the pillars of heaven, which was his punishment for being the war leader of the Titans in the struggle with the Olympian gods. The name in Greek perhaps means "The Bearer (of the Heavens)," from a-, copulative prefix, + stem of tlenai "to bear," from PIE root *tele- "to lift, support, weigh." Mount Atlas, in Mauritania, was important in Greek cosmology as a support of the heavens.
n.
"collection of maps in a volume," 1636, first in reference to the English translation of "Atlas, sive cosmographicae meditationes de fabrica mundi" (1585) by Flemish geographer Gerhardus Mercator (1512-1594), who might have been the first to use this word in this way. A picture of the Titan Atlas holding up the world appeared on the frontispiece of this and other early map collections.
atlas
(ăt′ləs)- The top or first cervical vertebra of the neck, supporting the skull and articulating with the occipital bone and rotating around the dens of the axis.
Atlas
In classical mythology, a Titan famous for his strength. After the defeat of the Titans by Zeus, Atlas was condemned to support the Earth and sky on his shoulders for eternity.
Note
Note
atlas
A bound collection of maps. Atlases are named after the Greek god Atlas.