Atlas is what? Different meanings of the word "atlas"

There is such an interesting linguistic phenomenon as homography. The name comes from the Greek words "equally" and "I write". Homographs are words or word forms, which are depicted in the letter identically, but their pronunciation differs due to the difference in stresses. In other words, they are called graphical homonyms. They arise entirely by chance, no one creates them purposefully. A vivid example of this phenomenon is the "Atlas" lexeme.

Meaning of the word

So, what is atlas? Dictionaries give at least four different meanings. Two of them are proper names, others are common.

Atlas is:

• Smooth silk fabric;
• The name of the ancient Greek deity;
• Collection of geographical maps;
• The name of the mountains in north-west Africa.

The meaning of each individual homograph differs from the value of the other, and between them it is difficult to find lexical points of contact. It is interesting that each of the words is derived from its origins, but from different languages.

Now about each of these values in more detail.

the cloth

In this case, the stress falls on the second syllable, although many do not know about it.

Atlas - a tight silk or semi-silk material with gloss. It beautifully shimmers, as the front side of it is shiny.

The word comes from the Arabic "ironing", which is quite logical, because the fabric is really nice to the touch, sliding, flowing. But in the Russian language it got horribly long and, most likely, through German or Polish. In the inventory of Boris Godunov's property , dated 1589, the word "departed" occurs. Consequently, at least already then in Russia were familiar with this material. The word itself has been slightly transformed over time and acquired the usual writing and sound for the modern person.

Derived words (for example, the adjective "satin") retain their emphasis on the second syllable.

The Name of God

Atlas is a titan from ancient Greek mythology, which held on its shoulders the sky and the whole earth. True, it is better known as Atlas. Such a heavy burden is a punishment from Zeus for disobedience. With this name, the following two values of the token in question are closely related.

The meaning of the word "atlas": collection of maps

In this case, not the second, but the first vowel "a" is the percussion. This word indicates a collection of geographical, anatomical, linguistic maps. Most often it is issued as an attachment to scientific books. Such a collection of cards can be bound or in the form of separate sheets. Usually each of them has a short title or an explanatory text. The Atlas can also contain tables or figures.

For the first time this word appeared in Russian almost 500 years ago thanks to the work of the cartographer Kremer, who called his book an atlas. The name comes from the already mentioned name of the ancient Greek god Atlas, or Atlas. The image of this titan was on the cover of the work of Kremer. In 200 years, in 1734, the first Russian atlas came out. So called the collection of geographical maps of the Russian Empire. This word has easily taken root in Russian. Although originally called the Atlas of collections of only geographical maps, but over time it began to be used in the field of anatomy, astronomy, and linguistics.

Geographical name

This is also called the mountain range in Africa. It is located on the territory of countries such as Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco. The mountain chain with a total length of 2000 km consists of the Tell-Atlas, High Atlas, Middle Atlas and Saharan Atlas ridges.

This toponym is also associated with the name of the titanium Atlanta. Here the analogy is simple: they believed that the mountains with their peaks rest against the sky itself. With firm confidence it can be stated that they received their name for good. In particular, the High Atlas ridge is the place of the greatest concentration of the largest peaks in Africa. It extends from the plains of the Atlantic to Algeria. The average height of the mountains is 3-4 km, and the peak is Jebel Tubkal (4165 m).

It is also interesting that the Atlas Mountains were named by the Europeans, and the locals gave completely different names to the individual ridges of this tectonic system. And it is not surprising, because Greek myths and legends on the territory of Africa were not widespread.

Knowing such subtleties, you can enrich the lexical arsenal and be sure of the correct pronunciation of the word.