atlas

noun

at·​las ˈat-ləs 

1

capitalized : a Titan who for his part in the Titans' revolt against the gods is forced by Zeus to support the heavens on his shoulders

2

capitalized : one who bears a heavy burden

3

a

: a bound collection of maps often including illustrations, informative tables, or textual matter

b

: a bound collection of tables, charts, or plates

4

: the first vertebra of the neck

5

plural usually atlantes ət-ˈlan-(ˌ)tēz 

at-

: a male figure used like a caryatid as a supporting column or pilaster

called also telamon

Illustration of atlas

• atlas 5

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Word History of Atlas

In Greek mythology, giants ruled the world in an early age. Their rule was overthrown after a mighty battle with other gods. Atlas was one of these giants, and after their defeat, the story goes, he was forced to hold up the sky on his shoulders. In the 16th century, the Flemish mapmaker Gerardus Mercator published a collection of maps. On the title page he showed a picture of Atlas supporting his burden. Mercator gave the book the title Atlas. Later collections of maps included similar pictures of Atlas, and came to be called atlases.

Examples of atlas in a Sentence

a road atlas of the U.S.

Recent Examples on the Web

The atlas of Instant Urban Trails in America is growing year-by-year. —Miles Howard, Outside Online, 17 Oct. 2024

For the first time, scientists have built a detailed atlas of a zebrafish’s nerve cells. —Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 15 Aug. 2024

Future work will likely delve into this new cell atlas to understand what other cell types do during spinal cord regeneration. —Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 15 Aug. 2024

Olympic officials scurried to find the Suriname anthem to play for the medal ceremony, and reporters had to scramble to an atlas to learn about this country of about 380,000 people. —Rick Maese, Washington Post, 28 July 2024

Word History

Etymology

Latin Atlant-, Atlas, from Greek

First Known Use

1583, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing atlas

• dialect atlas
• linguistic atlas

Kids Definition

atlas

noun

at·​las ˈat-ləs 

: a book of maps

Etymology

named for Atlas, a giant in Greek mythology

Word Origin

Atlas was one of the giants of Greek mythology who ruled the world in an early age. Their rule was overthrown after a mighty battle with other gods. After his defeat, the story goes, Atlas was forced to hold up the sky on his shoulders. In the 16th century the Flemish mapmaker Gerardus Mercator published a collection of maps. On the title page he showed a picture of Atlas supporting his burden. Mercator gave the book the title Atlas. Later collections of maps included similar pictures of Atlas, and such books came to be called atlases.

Medical Definition

atlas

noun

at·​las ˈat-ləs 

: the first vertebra of the neck