Atlases

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A bound collection featuring various geographical maps and charts used for navigation and reference purposes
2. A resource comprising multiple maps illustrating different regions and their geographic features for educational or practical use
3. A book containing a variety of maps covering different areas and themes for geographic study and reference

Etymology: Gerardus Mercator, the Flemish mapmaker, gave the name to the book of maps. He published his collection in 1595 and named it after Atlas, the Greek Titan who was condemned to hold up the heavens. Mercator believed Atlas had been skilled in astronomy and the doctrine of the sphere, so a book of maps seemed a fitting place to carry his image. The mythological name itself comes from Greek "tlênai," meaning "to suffer" or "to bear," which is why the Titan became the bearer of the heavens. The same name was applied to a bone in the neck. The first vertebra, which supports the skull, was called the atlas because it carries the globe of the head, just as the mythic Titan carried the sky. Strangely, the mythological sense is not the oldest. Long before any mapbook, "atlas" was borrowed from Arabic "ʔaṭlas," a word for a fine silk or satin, and it reached English through Latin and Greek channels with that cloth meaning in mind.

Synonyms: maps, charts