Atlas - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

at·las

Audio Help [at-luh

s] Pronunciation Key

–noun, plural at·las·es for 1–3, at·lan·tes

Audio Help [at-lan-teez] Pronunciation Key for 5.

1.	a bound collection of maps.

2.	a bound volume of charts, plates, or tables illustrating any subject.

3.	Anatomy. the first cervical vertebra, which supports the head.

4.	a size of drawing or writing paper, 26 × 34 or 33 inches.

5.	Also called telamon. Architecture. a sculptural figure of a man used as a column.

Compare caryatid.

[Origin: 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

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Atlas

To learn more about Atlas visit Britannica.com

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

At·las

Audio Help [at-luh

s] Pronunciation Key

–noun, plural At·las·es for 2, 4.

1.	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.

2.	a person who supports a heavy burden; a mainstay.

3.	Charles (Angelo Siciliano), 1894–1972, U.S. body-building advocate, born in Italy.

4.	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.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

at·las¹ Audio Help (āt'ləs) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. at·las·es

A book or bound collection of maps, sometimes with supplementary illustrations and graphic analyses.
A volume of tables, charts, or plates that systematically illustrates a particular subject: an anatomical atlas.
A large size of drawing paper, measuring 26 × 33 or 26 × 34 inches.

[After Atlas, probably from depictions of him holding the world on his shoulders that appeared on the frontispieces of early works of this kind.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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at·las² Audio Help (āt'ləs) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. at·las·es

pl. at·lan·tes (āt-lān'tēz) Architecture A standing or kneeling figure of a man used as a supporting column, as for an entablature or balcony.
Anatomy The top or first cervical vertebra of the neck, which supports the skull.

[From Atlas.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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At·las Audio Help (āt'ləs) Pronunciation Key
n.

Greek Mythology A Titan condemned by Zeus to support the heavens upon his shoulders.
The satellite of Saturn that is second in distance from the planet.
atlas A person who supports a great burden.

[Greek; see telə- in Indo-European roots.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Atlas

1589, 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 means lit. "The Bearer (of the Heavens)," from stem of tlenai "to bear." Mount Atlas, in Mauritania, was important in Gk. cosmology as a support of the heavens.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
atlas

"collection of maps in a volume," 1636, first in ref. to the Eng. translation of "Atlas, sive cosmographicae meditationes de fabrica mundi" (1585) by Flemish geographer Gerhardus Mercator (1512-94), who may have been the first to use this word in this way. A picture of the Titan Atlas holding up the world (see Atlas) appeared on the frontispiece.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

atlas
noun
1.	(Greek mythology) a Titan who was forced by Zeus to bear the sky on his shoulders
2.	a collection of maps in book form
3.	the 1st cervical vertebra
4.	a figure of a man used as a supporting column

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
atlas [ˈӕtləs] noun

a book of maps
Example: My atlas is out of date.

Arabic:	أطْلَس
Chinese (Simplified):	地图册
Chinese (Traditional):	地圖冊
Czech:	atlas
Danish:	atlas
Dutch:	atlas
Estonian:	atlas
Finnish:	karttakirja
French:	atlas
German:	der Atlas
Greek:	γεωγραφικός άτλας
Hungarian:	atlasz
Icelandic:	atlas, landakortabók
Indonesian:	buku peta, atlas
Italian:	atlante

Japanese:	地図帳
Korean:	지도책
Latvian:	atlants
Lithuanian:	atlasas
Norwegian:	atlas
Polish:	atlas
Portuguese (Brazil):	atlas
Portuguese (Portugal):	atlas
Romanian:	atlas
Russian:	атлас
Slovak:	atlas
Slovenian:	atlas
Spanish:	atlas
Swedish:	atlas
Turkish:	atlas

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
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: 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.

Note: An “Atlas” or “atlas” is an incredibly strong person or one who carries an enormous burden.

[Chapter:] Mythology and Folklore

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
atlas

A bound collection of maps. Atlases are named after the Greek god Atlas.

[Chapter:] World Geography

Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

ATLAS
Abbreviated Test Language for Avionics Systems

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Atlas

At*lan"tes\, n. pl. [L., fr. Gr. ?, pl. of ?. See Atlas.] (Arch.) Figures or half figures of men, used as columns to support an entablature; -- called also telamones. See Caryatides. --Oxf. Gloss.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Atlas

At*lan"tic\, a. [L. Atlanticus, fr. Atlas. See Atlas and Atlantes.]

1. Of or pertaining to Mt. Atlas in Libya, and hence applied to the ocean which lies between Europe and Africa on the east and America on the west; as, the Atlantic Ocean (called also the Atlantic); the Atlantic basin; the Atlantic telegraph.

2. Of or pertaining to the isle of Atlantis.

3. Descended from Atlas.

The seven Atlantic sisters. --Milton.

American Heritage Abbreviations Dictionary 3rd Edition - Cite This Source - Share This

ATLAS
[National Aeronautics and Space Administration] Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science

Acronym Finder - Cite This Source - Share This

ATLAS

ATLAS: in Acronym Finder

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