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5 results for: Atlases

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
at·las    Audio Help   [at-luhs] 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.
Atlases

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© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
At·las    Audio Help   [at-luhs] 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·las 1    Audio Help   (āt'ləs)  Pronunciation Key 
n.   pl. at·las·es
  1. A book or bound collection of maps, sometimes with supplementary illustrations and graphic analyses.
  2. A volume of tables, charts, or plates that systematically illustrates a particular subject: an anatomical atlas.
  3. 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.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
at·las 2    Audio Help   (āt'ləs)  Pronunciation Key 
n.   pl. at·las·es
  1. 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.
  2. Anatomy The top or first cervical vertebra of the neck, which supports the skull.


[From Atlas.]

(Download Now or Buy the Book)
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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