Atlas Meaning
/ˈætləs/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA bound collection of maps often including tables, illustrations or other text.
nounA bound collection of tables, illustrations, etc. on any given subject.
Sentence Examples
I paid 2,000 yen for this atlas.
Open your atlas of Japan to page 3.
Atlas is often depicted carrying the Earth on his shoulders.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The student used the huge ____ to find the capital of Brazil.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I used an ____ to look up the location of the small island in the sea.
Word Origin & History
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).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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."
— 1991, Alan C. F. Colchester, David J. Hawkes, editors, Information Processing in Medical Imaging, Springer, →ISBN, page 154:
"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."
— 2003, Isabelle E. Magnin, Functional Imaging and Modeling of the Heart, Springer, →ISBN, page 19:
"There are of these glands upon the first vertebra of the neck of the atlas; on which the head turns[…]"
— 1734, William Stukeley, Of the Gout, part II, page 58:
"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."
— 2020, Tim Ecott, The Land of Maybe, Short Books, published 2021, page 174:
"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; […]"
— 1887, Sir William Hedges, Sir Henry Yule, The Diary of William Hedges, Esq.:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The student used the huge ____ to find the capital of Brazil.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I used an ____ to look up the location of the small island in the sea.