‖ atlantes, n. pl. Arch.
(ætˈlæntiːz)
[L., a. Gr. ἄτλαντες, pl. of ἄτλας: see Atlas n.1]
Figures or half-figures of men used instead of columns to support an entablature.
| 1706 in Phillips. 1835 Penny Cycl. III. 25/1 The Atlantes of this temple [of Jupiter Olympius, at Agrigentum] were twenty-five feet high. |