atlas English · revision 364

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈætləs/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It comes from the name of [[grc|Ἄτλας|tr=Átlās]], a Titan of Greek mythology who held up the heavens,^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) via [[la|Atlās]].^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate) The Greek name is traditionally explained as “the bearer”, from the stem of ''tlēnai'' “to bear”, but Beekes thinks it may be a reshaping of Berber ''adrar'' “mountain”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A person who bears a great burden, a chief support (1589).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense “a volume of maps” first appears in English in 1636,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995) in the title of the translation of Mercator's ''Atlas'' (1585).^(Etymonline) It is said to come from pictures of Atlas holding up the world at the front of early map collections.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) The sense later widened to any volume of plates or tables (1875),^(OED 1989) and anatomists named the topmost vertebra, which supports the skull, after the Titan (1699).^(OED 1989)^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1589 – one who sustains a great burden.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1636 – a collection of maps in a volume.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1699 – the first cervical vertebra.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1712 – a large size of drawing paper.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1875 – a volume of plates or tables on any subject.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A bound collection of maps.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A volume of tables, charts or plates illustrating a subject.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(anatomy)'' The first vertebra of the neck, which supports the skull.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(architecture)'' A male figure used as a supporting column.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # A large size of drawing paper.^(AHD)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Atlantic]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}