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Atlas

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word Atlas

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
280/260–before 200 BC, Livius Andronicus
Borrowed from
Ancient Greek Ἄτλας
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek Ἄτλας

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈaːt.ɫaːs], [ˈat.ɫaːs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈat.las][1]

Forms

Atlās m (genitive Atlantis); third declension[2][3] The nominative is also Atlāns, and both are common.[2] The vocative is Atlā in Ovid, and the accusative Atlanta or Atlantem.[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek Ἄτλας (Átlas).[3][4][1][5] Köbler, following Frisk, says that its further origin is unclear.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Livius Andronicus names the Titan as the father of Calypso.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

In mythology Atlas is the Titan who holds up the sky on his head or shoulders, later turned into a mountain.[2][5] Cicero makes him a king who loved astronomy, and in Ovid Perseus turns him into Mount Atlas with the head of Medusa because he refused Perseus hospitality.[3] He was the father of the Pleiades and the Hyades.[3] Naevius speaks of figures of great Atlases beside Titans, so the name was used for a representation of him.[2]

The mountain range in north-west Africa, on which the sky was said to rest, is named in Mela, Vitruvius, Ovid, Virgil and Pliny the Elder.[2][3][4] Juvenal uses the name for a very tall man and, ironically, for a dwarf.[3] The adjective Atlanticus, “of Mount Atlas”, gave the name of the Atlantic Ocean.[3] Conte gives it as the source of Italian Atlante.[5]

Timeline

  • 280/260–before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus names Atlas as the father of Calypso.[2][5][4]
  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius mentions figures of Atlases.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero makes Atlas a king devoted to astronomy.[3][4]
  • c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius names the mountain.[3][4]
  • 43/44 AD – Mela describes the mountain range.[2][5][4]

Meanings

Proper noun

  1. (mythology) Atlas, the Titan who holds up the sky; a figure of him.[2][3][5]
  2. The Atlas, a high mountain range in north-west Africa.[2][3][5]
  3. (figurative) A very tall man;[3] (ironic) a dwarf.[3]
  • Atlanticus

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Atlas.” Etymologically, 23 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/Atlas. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

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