From names to wordsMyths & disputes

atlas

Átlas was the Titan who bore the sky on his shoulders. Mercator titled his 1595 collection of maps Atlas, Dutch map publishers made the name standard, and it became the word for any book of maps from Moscow to Cairo.

Weakest linkCertain

The story you may have heard

The map book is usually said to be named for the Titan holding up the globe, but Mercator's preface dedicates it to a different Atlas: a legendary philosopher-king of Mauretania said to have made the first celestial globe.

The road to English

From New Latin to Dutch, German

From New Latin to French, Turkish

From New Latin to Spanish

From New Latin to Italian

From New Latin to Russian

From French to Arabic

From New Latin to Modern Hebrew

700 BCEAncient Greek

Hops are evenly spaced; labels show the year each form is first attested.

The road to English

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