FromMiddle English, fromLatin, fromAncient GreekἈμαζών(Amazṓn); perhaps Ionian Greek pronunciation ofOld Persian*hamazan-(“warrior”), as the Amazon women were known warriors.(Canthis(+) etymology besourced?) A popularfolk etymology, of Ancient Greek provenance, claims that the word derives fromἀ-(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.
(Greekmythology) A member of a mythical race of female warriors inhabiting theBlack Sea area.
1981,William Irwin Thompson,The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page149:
When, therefore, one envisions a matriarchy, one should not conjure up visions of a gang ofAmazons lopping off breasts and testicles to rule by force of arms.
1976, Xenia S. Williams, “The Power of History...or History Is Written by the Powerful”, in Dave Peterson, Jonathan Cross, Lyn Rosen, editors,A Gay Person's Guide to New England, 2nd edition:
In some parts of Africa, Asia, and South America,amazon cultures still existed during the Middle Ages, such as that ruled by Queen Nzingha in Angola, who led heramazon army against the Portuguese in a series of wars during the first half of the seventeenth century. In Dahomey also in traditionally gynarchal West Africa, the army was made up ofamazons even through the nineteenth century.
FromSpanish,RíoAmazonas. It is common belief that the Spanish explorer Francisco de Orellana fought a battle against a tribe ofTapuya natives, in which the women fought alongside the men, and that he derived the name from the Amazons in Greek mythology.
2025 April 4, Lex Harvey and Esha Mitra, “US tourist arrested after allegedly attempting to contact ‘world’s most isolated’ tribe”, inCNN[1]:
In February, a young man from an isolated Indigenous tribe in Brazil made brief contact with the outside world before returning to theAmazon rainforest.
Chosen byJeff Bezos in 1994 as a word beginning with 'A' which had existing connotations (see meanings listed in etymologies 1 & 2) of being exotic, different, and (as the Amazon River) the largest of its kind in the world.[1]
2021 February 1, Rishi Iyengar, “Google will stop making video games for its Stadia platform”, inCNN Business[2]:
Google is one of several Big Tech firms that has made an aggressive push into gaming in recent years, along withAmazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL) and Facebook (FB).
Those who hesitate risk being "amazoned," forfeiting business to an Internet newcomer, in the way that bookstore chains have lost ground to Amazon.com Inc., the online bookseller.
Venture capitalists' desks are thick with business plans promising ‘we're going toAmazon the insurance/travel/property business...’
1999, Tim Smith,InternetWeek (786), "Getting Customers Totally Integrated – Cisco CIO Pete Solvik", 1999-10-25, p. 98[3]
Take the example of MetalSite.com, which is owned by steel companies. The steel companies aren't getting "Amazoned" by a start-up but, rather, they are doing the "Amazoning" within their own industry.
1999, "Amazon Expands",InternetWeek (789), 1999-11-15, p. 11[4]
Amazon.com may soon be "amazoning" a few more industries.
In other industries, established companies are pulling people and money away from their Internet operations, as their fear of being "Amazoned" by start-ups has subsided.
2025 June 30, Adrienne Matei, quoting Josh Lora, “‘Hey man, I’m so sorry for your loss’: should you use AI to text?”, inThe Guardian[5],→ISSN, archived fromthe original on5 July 2025:
[…] “There are people who Uber everywhere, who Seamless everything, whoAmazon everything, and render their lives completely smooth.”
