: a male figure used like a caryatid as a supporting column or pilaster
called alsotelamon
Illustration of atlas
atlas 5
Did you know?
Word History of Atlas
In Greek mythology, giants ruled the world in an early age. Their rule was overthrown after a mighty battle with other gods. Atlas was one of these giants, and after their defeat, the story goes, he was forced to hold up the sky on his shoulders. In the 16th century, the Flemish mapmaker Gerardus Mercator published a collection of maps. On the title page he showed a picture of Atlas supporting his burden. Mercator gave the book the title Atlas. Later collections of maps included similar pictures of Atlas, and came to be called atlases.
Examples of atlas in a Sentence
a road atlas of the U.S.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
The most recent report, issued in 2023, included an interactive atlas that zoomed down to the county level.—Seth Borenstein, CNN Money, 2 July 2025 Related Stories: — Euclid 'dark universe' telescope reveals 1st breathtaking images from massive 'cosmic atlas' map
— Euclid 'dark universe' telescope captures 1st full-color views of the cosmos (images)
— How will Europe's Euclid space telescope see into the dark universe?—Robert Lea, Space.com, 19 Mar. 2025 The volumes of different brain regions were analyzed using detailed anatomical atlases of the brain, and statistical models were used to examine the relationships between brain volume and psychopathy scores.—New Atlas, 26 June 2025 For those who want an atlas of nominees, Tales of the Cocktail built an interactive map of the world’s best bars in 2021.—Michael Solomon, Forbes.com, 10 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for atlas
Atlas was one of the giants of Greek mythology who ruled the world in an early age. Their rule was overthrown after a mighty battle with other gods. After his defeat, the story goes, Atlas was forced to hold up the sky on his shoulders. In the 16th century the Flemish mapmaker Gerardus Mercator published a collection of maps. On the title page he showed a picture of Atlas supporting his burden. Mercator gave the book the title Atlas. Later collections of maps included similar pictures of Atlas, and such books came to be called atlases.
Share