- atlas
- "collection of maps in a volume," 1636, first in reference to the English translation of "Atlas, sive cosmographicae meditationes de fabrica mundi" (1585) by Flemish geographer Gerhardus Mercator (1512-1594), who might have been the first to use this word in this way. A picture of the Titan Atlas holding up the world appeared on the frontispiece of this and other early map collections.
- Atlas
- 1580s, Titan, son of Iapetus and Clymene, supposed to uphold the pillars of heaven, which was his punishment for being the war leader of the Titans in the struggle with the Olympian gods. The name perhaps means lit. "The Bearer (of the Heavens)," from stem of tlenai "to bear." Mount Atlas, in Mauritania, was important in Gk. cosmology as a support of the heavens.
- Atlantic
- late 14c., occean of athlant "sea off the west coast of Africa," from L. Atlanticus, from Gk. Atlantikos, adjectival form of Atlas (gen. Atlantos), in ref. to Mount Atlas in Mauritania (see Atlas). Applied to the whole ocean since c.1600.
- Atlantis
- mythical island-nation, from Gk. Atlantis, lit. "daughter of Atlas." All references trace to Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, both written c.360 B.C.E.
- cloud nine
- by 1950, sometimes also cloud seven (1956, perhaps by confusion with seventh heaven), Amer.Eng., of uncertain origin or significance. Some connect the phrase with the 1896 International Cloud-Atlas, long the basic source for cloud shapes, in which, of the ten cloud types, cloud No. 9, cumulonimbus, was the biggest, puffiest, most comfortable-looking. The phrase might appear in the aviation-based play "Ceiling Zero" by Frank Wilber Wead (1935).
- satin
- 1369, from O.Fr. satin (14c.), perhaps from Arabic (atlas) zaytuni, lit. "(satin) from Zaitun," a Chinese city, perhaps modern Tsinkiang in Fukien province, southern China, which was a port in the Middle Ages. The form of the word perhaps influenced in Fr. by L. seta "silk." OED finds the Arabic connection etymologically untenable and takes the Fr. word straight from Latin.
- Pleiades
- 1388, the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione, transformed by Zeus into seven stars, from L., from Gk. Pleiades, perhaps lit. "constellation of the doves" from a shortened form of peleiades, pl. of peleias "dove," from PIE base *pel- "dark-colored, gray." Or perhaps from plein "to sail," because the season of navigation begins with their heliacal rising. Mentioned by Hesiod (pre-700 B.C.E.), only six now are visible to most people; on a clear night a good eye can see nine (in 1579, well before the invention of the telescope, astronomer Moestlin correctly drew 11 Pleiades stars); telescopes reveal at least 500.
- Seven Sisters
- "the Pleiades," 1412 (see Pleiades), seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione, placed among the stars by Zeus. As a name for the major multi-national petroleum companies, it is attested from 1962. They were listed in 1976 as Exxon, Mobil, Gulf, Standard Oil of California, Texaco, British Petroleum, and Royal Dutch Shell. The Pleiades also are known as the Seven Stars (O.E. sibunsterri), though in 15c. this name occasionally was given to the Big Dipper.
FOOL: ... The reason why the
seven stars are no more than seven is a pretty reason.
KING LEAR: Because they are not eight?
FOOL: Yes, indeed: thou wouldst make a good fool.
["King Lear," Act I, Scene V] - extol
- late 15c., "to lift up," from L. extollere, from ex- "up" + tollere "to raise," from PIE *tel-, *tol- "to bear, carry" (cf. Gk. talantos "bearing, suffering," tolman "to carry, bear," telamon "broad strap for bearing something," Atlas "the Bearer" of Heaven;" Lith. tiltas "bridge;" Skt. tula "balance," tulayati "lifts up, weighs;" L. tolerare "to bear, support," latus "borne;" O.E. žolian "to endure;" Arm. tolum "I allow"). Figurative sense of "praise highly" is first attested c.1500.