atlas
noun
a bound collection of maps.
atlas
1 American
[at-luhs]
/ ˈæt ləs /
noun
-
atlases,
plural
-
atlantes
plural
-
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.
Atlas
2
American
[at-luhs]
/ ˈæt ləs /
noun
-
Atlases
plural
-
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.
-
Charles Angelo 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.
atlas
1
British
/ ˈætləs /
noun
-
a collection of maps, usually in book form
-
a book of charts, graphs, etc, illustrating aspects of a subject
an anatomical atlas
-
anatomy the first cervical vertebra, attached to and supporting the skull in man Compare axis 1
-
architect another name for telamon
-
a standard size of drawing paper, 26 × 17 inches
Atlas
2
British
/ ˈætləs /
noun
-
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
Atlas
1
Cultural
atlas
2
Cultural
Discover More
An “Atlas” or “atlas” is an incredibly strong person or one who carries an enormous burden.
Since the sixteenth century, pictures of Atlas and his burden have been used as decorations on maps. Accordingly, the word atlas is used for a book of maps.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of atlas
1580–90 in sense “prop, support”; as name for a collection of maps, said to be from illustrations of Atlas supporting the globe in early books of this kind
Explanation
Can’t remember which countries border Uzbekistan? Consult an atlas, a book of maps, and you’ll find the information you need. An atlas gets its name from the Greek god Atlas, who, according to myth, was forced to bear the weight of the heavens on his shoulders. You might feel like Atlas if you have to carry one of these books around. Atlases are usually large, oversized books that contain maps, diagrams, and information such as population figures. Traditionally, atlas refers specifically to a bound book of maps rather than to a folding map, a globe, or an online database.
Vocabulary lists containing atlas
You Name It: Eponyms
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National Librarian Day
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Kindred
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In one interview in 2024, he struggled, external to name a favourite novel and when he appeared on Radio 4's Desert Island Discs he picked an atlas as the book he would take with him.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
The aim is to build an atlas of how diet interacts with the body, and to pinpoint which molecules really matter for health.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 17, 2026
An agreeable companion on the page, Mr. McCarthy prefers scenic parkways to multilane highways and amusingly relies on a Rand McNally road atlas instead of phone-enabled navigation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 14, 2026
A major breakthrough came from constructing a detailed genetic atlas that maps a range of CD8 T cell states.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 5, 2026
He had brought the magazine specially to her apartment, for she did not own an atlas, or any other books with maps in them.
From "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri
The US firm manages more than $1 trillion in assets worldwide, while investing in Aeromexico, Sun Country Airlines and Atlas Air.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
The text includes an Omniscient Seashell, drinks that offer forgetfulness or remembering, ghostly apparitions, a magical couples’ retreat at the foot of the Atlas Mountains, and a desert prince who becomes obsessed with Helena.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Two boys, Atlas and Sebastian Carbajal, were listed on the L.A.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2026
The union’s response was blunt: Atlas would never step onto a production line without workers agreeing first.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
It had much to sweep, for in land area the Tropic Region enclosed most of two continents: all of South America north of Argentina and all of Africa south of the Atlas.
From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov
Even the more modest buildings have distinctive flourishes, and some are simply stand-in-the-street-and-stare astonishing, like the House of Scientists, a neo-Baroque extravaganza with a huge wooden entryway flanked by twin Atlases holding up the balcony.
From New York Times ● May 31, 2022
"Rather attractive... with Atlases supporting enormous mock columns and a rather luxurious intimacy about the atmosphere".
From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2022
Could Lou or one of the other Atlases take his title?
From The Guardian ● Nov. 6, 2015
The earlier generation of nuclear missiles - the mere dozens of Titans and the Atlases - were massive, expensive to maintain, volatile because of their liquid fuel and in need of constant security, Heefner said.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 17, 2015
The shores of the S.W. point of this island and some adjoining islets, are fringed by reefs, as may be seen in the "Atlases of the Voyages of the 'Coquille' and 'Astrolabe'."
From Coral Reefs by Charles Darwin
His meticulous survey takes in dozens of sources, from the obscure to the well-known: pamphlets to legal codes, sermons to atlases, maps, travel narratives, even journals kept by ships’ captains.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 28, 2025
It has produced draft atlases of the brain and lung and researchers are working on the kidney, liver and heart.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2024
The Nazi atlases “were like documents of death. The atlases that Shiv is creating are really living, interactive tools to support life.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2024
"With single-cell atlases, you take an entire organism and you literally split it into its individual cells. And then you look at gene expression in each cell separately," she said.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 15, 2024
As in all atlases, there were two completely blank pages at the very end.
From "The BFG" by Roald Dahl
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
