What is the meaning of atlas?

The meaning of atlas has several layers, all derived from Greek mythology, but its primary modern meaning is a collection of maps and geographical information in book or digital form. The word atlas comes from the Titan Atlas who was condemned to hold up the sky, and the name was first used for a map collection by Gerardus Mercator in the 16th century who depicted Atlas holding the world on his maps. Today, an atlas means a book of maps showing political boundaries, physical features, roads, and thematic data, such as world atlas, road atlas, or historical atlas. In anatomy, atlas means the first cervical vertebra C1 that supports the skull and allows nodding, named because it holds up the head like Atlas holds the sky. In architecture, an atlas or atlantes is a sculpted male figure used as a column to support an entablature, similar to a caryatid. In figurative language, atlas symbolizes a person who bears a heavy burden or responsibility. In astronomy, ATLAS is an acronym for Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, a survey searching for near-Earth objects, and also refers to interstellar comet 3I ATLAS. As a proper name, Atlas Mountains are a mountain range in North Africa. So atlas fundamentally means support and comprehensive knowledge, from bearing the heavens to holding a collection of world knowledge in map form.