WikiWord

English

Amazon

/ˈæm.ə.zən/ · noun

Meaning

  1. A fairy chess piece which combines the moves of the queen and the knight.
  2. Any of the large parrots from the genus Amazona.
  3. A tall, strong, athletic woman.
  4. A region including much of this river; specifically, the region of the Amazon Rainforest, or of the Amazon River Basin.
  5. A female warrior.
  6. To order (something) on Amazon.
  7. An amazon parrot.
  8. A position for vaginal sex in which the insertive partner lies on their back with their knees pulled back, and the receptive partner, facing the other person, squats onto the penis.
  9. A tall, strong, or athletic woman.
  10. A member of a mythical race of female warriors inhabiting the Black Sea area.
  11. A river in South America, that flows through Brazil for about 4000 miles to the Atlantic.
  12. To overwhelm or obliterate, in the context of an Internet start-up vastly outperforming its brick and mortar competition.
  13. Amazon.com Inc., a very large Internet retailer.

Etymology / origin

From Middle English, from Latin, from Ancient Greek Ἀμαζών (Amazṓn); perhaps Ionian Greek pronunciation of Old Persian *hamazan- (“warrior”), as the Amazon women were known warriors. A popular folk etymology, of Ancient Greek provenance, claims that the word derives from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + μαζός (mazós, “breast”), referencing the belief that Amazons cut off their right breast so that it would not hinder their ability to fire a bow or throw a spear.

Sources

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