atlas
Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
atlas/ˈatləs/
▶noun
- 1 a book of maps or charts.
- 2 Anatomy the topmost vertebra of the backbone, articulating with the occipital bone of the skull.
- 3 (pl. atlantes /atˈlantiːz/) Architecture a stone carving of a male figure, used as a column to support the entablature of a Greek or Greek-style building.
– origin C16: via L. from Gk Atlas, the Greek god who held up the pillars of the universe, whose picture appeared at the front of early atlases.
'atlas' also found in these Oxford entries:
