Etymology

he oldest known mentions of an "Atlantic" sea are in Stesichorus around mid-sixth century BC (Sch. A. R. 1. 211):^[6] Atlantikoi pelágei (Greek: Ἀτλαντικῷ πελάγει; English: 'the Atlantic sea'; etym. 'Sea of Atlantis') and in The Histories of Herodotus around 450 BC (Hdt. 1.202.4): Atlantis thalassa (Greek: Ἀτλαντὶς θάλασσα; English: 'Sea of Atlantis' or 'the Atlantis sea'^[7]) where the name refers to "the sea beyond the pillars of Heracles" which is said to be part of the ocean that surrounds all land.^[8] Thus, on one hand, the name refers to Atlas, the Titan of Greek mythology, who supported the heavens and who later appeared as a frontispiece in Medieval maps and also lent his name to modern atlases.^[9] On the other hand, to early Greek sailors and in Ancient Greek mythological literature such as the Iliad and the Odyssey, this all-encompassing ocean was instead known as Oceanus, the gigantic river that encircled the world; in contrast to the enclosed seas well-known to the Greeks: the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.^[10] In contrast, the term "Atlantic" originally referred specifically to the Atlas Mountains in Morocco and the sea off the Strait of Gibraltar and the North African coast.^[9] The Greek word thalassa has been reused by scientists for the huge Panthalassa ocean that surrounded the supercontinent Pangaea hundreds of million years ago.
The term "Aethiopian Ocean", derived from Ancient Ethiopia, was applied to the Southern Atlantic as late as the mid-19th century.^[11]

Nicknames

In modern times, some idioms refer to the ocean in a humorously diminutive way as "the Pond", describing both the geographical and cultural divide between North America and Europe, in particular between the English-speaking nations of both continents. Many Irish or British people refer to the United States and Canada as "across the pond", and vice versa.^[12]
The "Black Atlantic" refers to the role of this ocean in shaping black people's history, especially through the Atlantic slave trade. Irish migration to the US is meant when the term "The Green Atlantic" is used. The term "Red Atlantic" has been used in reference to the Marxian concept of an Atlantic working class, as well as to the Atlantic experience of indigenous Americans. ^[13][14][15]