atlas

Meaning

1. A bound collection of maps often including tables, illustrations or other text.
2. A bound collection of tables, illustrations etc. on any given subject.
3. A detailed visual conspectus of something of great and multi-faceted complexity, with its elements splayed so as to be presented in as discrete a manner as possible whilst retaining a realistic view of the whole.
4. A family of coordinate charts that cover a manifold.
5. The uppermost vertebra of the cervical spine in the neck in humans and some other animals.
6. One who supports a heavy burden; mainstay.
7. A figure of a man used as a column.
8. A sheet of paper measuring 26 inches by 34 inches.

Synonyms

book of maps

map collection

atlas vertebra

telamon

roadbook

collection of illustrative plates

collection of drawings

map

collective drawings

maps

satin

historical map

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈætləs/

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin Atlas, from the name of the Ancient Greek mythological figure Ἄτλας (Átlas, “Bearer (of the Heavens)”), from τλῆναι (tlênai, “to suffer”, “to endure”, “to bear”). The sense referring to books of maps comes from the Atlas of Mercator, which he named thus in honor of Atlas, who was supposed to be skillful in astronomy and the doctrine of the sphere. The sense referring to the vertebra reflects that the spine carries the globe of the cranium (the neck carries the head).