atlas

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈætləs/, (sometimes) /ˈætlɪs/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) enPR: ătʹləs, IPA^(key): /ˈætləs/
• Rhymes: -ætləs
• Homophone: Atlas

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).

atlas (plural atlases or atlantes)

2. A bound collection of maps often including tables, illustrations or other text.

   Coordinate term: gazetteer

3. A bound collection of tables, illustrations, etc. on any given subject.

   Coordinate term: gazetteer

4. (chiefly in anatomy, especially of the human body) 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.
   • 1904: Eugène Collin, An Anatomical Atlas of Vegetable Powders Designed as an Aid to the Microscopic Analysis of Powdered Foods and Drugs, main title (J. & A. Churchill)

     An Anatomical Atlas of Vegetable Powders Designed as an Aid to the Microscopic Analysis of Powdered Foods and Drugs

   • 1991, Alan C. F. Colchester, David J. Hawkes, editors, Information Processing in Medical Imaging, Springer, →ISBN, page 154:

     In addition to classical radiology systems like angiography, CT scanner or MRI have greatly contributed to the improvement of the patient anatomy investigation. Each examination modality still carries its own information and the need to make a synthesis between them is obvious but still makes different problems hard to solve. There is no unique imaging facility which can bring out the whole set of known anatomical structures, brought together in a neuro-anatomical atlas.

   • 1997: Chris Horrocks, Introducing Foucault, page 55 (Totem Books, Icon Books; →ISBN

     Our perception of the body as the natural “space of the origin and distribution of disease”, a space determined by the 'anatomical atlas', is merely one of the various ways in which medicine has formed its “knowledge”.

   • 2003, Isabelle E. Magnin, Functional Imaging and Modeling of the Heart, Springer, →ISBN, page 19:

     Finally, Subsol et al. [6] reported on a method for automatically constructing 3D morphometric anatomical atlantes which is based on the extraction of line and point features and their subsequent non-rigid registration.

5. (differential geometry, topology) A family of coordinate charts that cover a manifold.
7. (anatomy) The uppermost vertebra of the cervical spine in the neck in humans and some other animals.

   Synonyms: atlanto-, atlo-

   • 1734, William Stukeley, Of the Gout, part II, page 58:

     There are of these glands upon the first vertebra of the neck of the atlas; on which the head turns […]

   • 2020, Tim Ecott, The Land of Maybe, Short Books, published 2021, page 174:

     Ribs and spines show through the thin layer of meat left on the carcase, and, where the head meets the body, the crucial first vertebra – the atlas – is exposed.

8. One who supports a heavy burden; mainstay.
9. (architecture) A figure of a man used as a column.

   Synonyms: atlantid, telamon

   Coordinate term: caryatid

10. (paper) A sheet of paper measuring 26 inches by 34 inches.

From Arabic أَطْلَس (ʔaṭlas).

atlas (countable and uncountable, plural atlases or atlasses)

1. (historical) A rich satin fabric.
   • 1887, Sir William Hedges, Sir Henry Yule, The Diary of William Hedges, Esq.:

     I saw ye Taffaties and Atlasses in ye warehouse, and gave directions concerning their severall colours and stripes, ordering Mr. Charnock to use his best endeavours to encrease their quantity; […]

   • 2016, Pius Malekandathil, The Indian Ocean in the Making of Early Modern India, page 53:

     Surat was an important port on the west coast of India from where atlases were exported on a large scale […]

• AASLT, Aalst, Salta, salat, talas

• Hyphenation: at‧las

From English 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”).

atlas

1. atlas (a bound collection of maps often including tables, illustrations or other text)

From English Atlas moth.

atlas

1. the Atlas moth (Attacus atlas)

• IPA^(key): [ˈatlas]

atlas m inan

1. atlas (bound collection of maps)

• “atlas”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “atlas”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “atlas”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025
• “atlas”, in Akademický slovník současné češtiny, 2012–2025, slovnikcestiny.cz

Apparently coined in Latin in this sense by Gerardus Mercator from the name of the mythological giant Atlas. Borrowed from Latin Atlas, from Ancient Greek Ἄτλας (Átlas).

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑt.lɑs/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: at‧las

atlas m (plural atlassen)

1. atlas (bound or digital collection of maps)

   Synonym: kaartenboek

2. (anatomy) atlas (top vertebra)

• → Indonesian: atlas
• → Papiamentu: atlas

From Latin Atlas, from Ancient Greek Ἄτλας (Átlas).

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑtlɑs/, [ˈɑ̝t̪l̪ɑ̝s̠]
• Rhymes: -ɑtlɑs
• Syllabification^(key): at‧las
• Hyphenation^(key): at‧las

atlas

1. atlas (collection of maps)
2. (anatomy) atlas (vertebra)

• (collection of maps): kartasto
• (vertebra): kannattajanikama, atlasnikama

• “atlas”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[2] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2 July 2023

• lasta, salat, talas

Borrowed from Latin atlas.

• IPA^(key): /at.las/ ~ /at.lɑs/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Switzerland):

  (file)

atlas m (plural atlas)

1. atlas (collection of maps)
2. (anatomy) atlas

• → Romanian: atlas
• → Turkish: atlas

• “atlas”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

• IPA^(key): [at̚las]
• Hyphenation: at‧las

From Dutch atlas, 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”).

atlas (plural atlas-atlas)

1. atlas:
   1. a bound collection of maps often including tables, illustrations or other text
   2. (anatomy) the uppermost vertebra of the neck

From Arabic أَطْلَس (ʔaṭlas).^[1]

atlas (plural atlas-atlas)

1. a rich satin fabric

   Synonyms: antelas, satin

• “atlas” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

From Ancient Greek Ἄτλας (Átlas).

atlas m (genitive singular atlais, nominative plural atlais)

1. atlas (bound collection of maps; uppermost vertebra of the neck)

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “atlas”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• “atlas”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013–2025

From Ancient Greek Ἄτλας (Átlas), a Titan in Greek mythology; first used in this sense by the cartographer Mercator.

atlas n (definite singular atlaset, indefinite plural atlas or atlaser, definite plural atlasa or atlasene)

1. an atlas (book of maps)

• veiatlas

• “atlas” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

From Ancient Greek Ἄτλας (Átlas).

atlas n (definite singular atlaset, indefinite plural atlas, definite plural atlasa)

1. an atlas (book of maps)

• “atlas” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek Ἄτλας (Átlas). Doublet of atlant.

• IPA^(key): /ˈa.tlas/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -atlas
• Syllabification: a‧tlas
• Homophone: Atlas

atlas m inan (diminutive atlasik)

1. atlas (bound collection of maps)
2. atlas (bound collection of maps)
3. (architecture) atlas (figure of a man used as a column)

   Synonyms: atlant, telamon

4. (anatomy) atlas (the uppermost vertebra of the neck)

   Synonym: dźwigacz

• atlas in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• atlas in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Ἄτλας (Átlas, “Atlas”).

• Homophone: Atlas
• Hyphenation: a‧tlas

atlas m (invariable)

1. atlas (collection of maps)

   Synonym: mapoteca

2. atlas (topmost vertebra)

• (topmost vertebra): vértebra, osso

• (collection of maps): mapa, carta

• (topmost vertebra): coluna, espinha, espinhaço, esqueleto

• (topmost vertebra): áxis

Borrowed from French atlas.

atlas n (plural atlase)

1. atlas

àtlas m inan (Cyrillic spelling а̀тлас)

1. atlas

From Atlas, a titan in Greek mythology.

• IPA^(key): /ˈatlas/ [ˈa.t̪las]
• Rhymes: -atlas
• Syllabification: a‧tlas

atlas m (plural atlas)

1. (cartography) atlas (a bound collection of maps often including tables, illustrations or other text)
2. (anatomy) atlas (the uppermost vertebra of the neck)

• Atlas (cartografía) on the Spanish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^es
• Atlas (hueso) on the Spanish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^es

• “atlas”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024

• IPA^(key): /ˈat.ɫas/
• Hyphenation: at‧las

Borrowed from French atlas, from Latin atlas.

atlas (definite accusative atlası, plural atlaslar)

1. (cartography) atlas (a bound collection of maps often including tables, illustrations or other text)

Inherited from Ottoman Turkish اطلس (atlas), from Arabic أَطْلَس (ʔaṭlas)

atlas (definite accusative atlası, plural atlaslar)

1. (dated) satin

   Synonym: saten

• “atlas”, in Turkish dictionaries, Türk Dil Kurumu
• Ayverdi, İlhan (2010) “atlas”, in Misalli Büyük Türkçe Sözlük, a reviewed and expanded single-volume edition, Istanbul: Kubbealtı Neşriyatı
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “atlas”, in Nişanyan Sözlük