Atlantic (disambiguation)

Atlantic is a word most commonly denoting the Atlantic Ocean, the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions, which separates the Americas from Europe and Africa. Beyond this primary sense, the term has been adopted for an exceptionally wide range of geographic places, historical events and agreements, commercial enterprises, media properties, sports organizations, scientific classifications, vehicles, and works of art. As a result, "Atlantic" ranks among the more extensively disambiguated words in the English language, and reference works typically devote separate entries or disambiguation pages to its many uses. This article surveys the principal referents of the word.

Etymology and Mythological Origins

The English adjective "Atlantic" derives from the Greek Atlantikós, meaning "of Atlas," a reference to Atlas, the Titan of Greek mythology who was condemned to support the heavens at the western edge of the known world. Ancient Greek geographers spoke of the Atlantis thalassa — the "Sea of Atlas" — to describe the waters beyond the Strait of Gibraltar. The name is also associated with Atlantis, the legendary island civilization described in Plato's dialogues