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North Atlantic Treaty Organization

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

1 3.7
A group of European and North American countries that work together for military defence
  • proper noun
  • /nɔrθ əˈtlæntɪk ˈtriti ˌɔrɡənɪˈzeɪʃən/
translation icon : Organización del Tratado del Atlántico Norte
  • The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was formed to ensure collective defense among its member states.
  • NATO

First thing I will ask those lot of people is why isn't Brazil in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization?

Examples

  • And, of course, all these commercial alliances are flanked by defense associations like the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

    Academic text (1995)

  • The concrete is crumbling in the foundations of the labyrinth of drab low-rise buildings that house the main offices of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization just off Boulevard Leopold III in the outskirts of Brussels.

    Academic text (2002)

  • The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has become as much a political alliance.

    Academic text (1995)

  • NATO is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

    Head of State (2003)

  • The North Atlantic Treaty Organization remains today a unique and invaluable alliance.

    Academic text (2002)

  • With little fanfare - and even less notice - the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has gone global.

    Academic text (2006)

  • West Germany was a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

    Academic text (1991)

  • The United States took the lead in organizing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in order to counter Soviet advances into Central Europe.

    Academic text (2001)

  • The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe issued a similar declaration, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization reasserted its own Article 5, which declares that an attack on any NATO nation constitutes an attack on all.

    Academic text (2002)

  • The recent addition of three former Warsaw Pact nations -- Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic -- to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization demonstrates how the spread of democratic values and political and economic freedom can help lead the world in a direction more in line with humanist thought.

    Academic text (1999)

Synonyms

alliance
vsNorth Atlantic Treaty Organization
832 4.0

A formal agreement between countries or groups to work together

is more specific, a military pact limited to Europe and North America since 1949
NATO
vsNorth Atlantic Treaty Organization
367 2.7

An international group of North American and European countries that agree to defend each other

is the official long name for that exact organization

Surface Forms

North Atlantic Treaty Organization main
NATO main

Morphology

north + Atlantic + treaty + organization

The parts 'north' + 'Atlantic' + 'treaty' + 'organization' transparently indicate an organization created by a treaty concerning the North Atlantic region, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents can infer it is an international body linking North Atlantic states. However, the specialized sense—specifically a military collective-defense alliance (NATO) and its historical/political nuances—is not derivable from the words alone, so the transparency is partial rather than full.

Etymology

North Atlantic Treaty Organization is a literal name: countries around the North Atlantic signed a treaty (an agreement) to form an organization that would act together. That's why the name means 'an alliance to protect each other'.