Phrases and Names, Their Origins and Meanings

by Trench H. Johnson

Astoria. From the fur-trading station established in 1811 by John Jacob Astor of New York.

Astrakhan. Fur brought from Astrakhan, which name signifies the country or district ruled by a khan of the Tartar or Mogul Empire.

Asturia. From the Basque asta, rock, and ura, water, denoting a region of mountains and estuaries.

Atlantic Ocean. Called by the Greeks Atlantikos pelagos, from the Isle of Atlantis, imagined by Homer and Plato to be beyond the Strait of Gibraltar.

Athanasian Creed. Opinions affecting the doctrine of the Trinity, ascribed to St Athanasius of Alexandria, adopted and formally compiled by St Hilary, Bishop of Arles in the fifth century.

Athens. From the Temple of Athene, or Minerva, the tutelary goddess of the city.

Athens of America. The city of Boston, considered the chief seat of learning in the New World.

Athens of the South. Nashville, Tennessee, on account of the number of its scholastic institutions.

Athelney. The “Royal Island” or “Isle of the Nobles,” where Alfred the Great founded a Benedictine monastery.

Atlas. Since the publication of “Mercator’s Projections,” with the figure of Atlas bearing the globe on his shoulders as a frontispiece, in 1560, all books of maps have received this name.