Amazon
Amazon.com Inc., a very large Internet retailer.
Proper noun attributive, sometimes
- A river in South America, that flows through Brazil for about 4000 miles to the Atlantic.
- A region including much of this river; specifically, the region of the Amazon Rainforest, or of the Amazon River Basin.
- Amazon milk frog
- In February, a young man from an isolated Indigenous tribe in Brazil made brief contact with the outside world before returning to the Amazon rainforest. - 2025 April 4, Lex Harvey and Esha Mitra, “US tourist arrested...
Origin
From Spanish Río Amazonas. It is common belief that the Spanish explorer Francisco de Orellana fought a battle against a tribe of Tapuya natives, in which the women fought alongside the men, and that he derived the name from the Amazons in Greek mythology.
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Amazon ant Amazon Basin Amazon dolphin Amazon effect Amazon giant leech Amazonian amazonian amazonite Amazon milk frog Amazon river dolphin amazonstone Amazon sword
Proper noun Entry 2
- Amazon.com Inc., a very large Internet retailer.
- Google is one of several Big Tech firms that has made an aggressive push into gaming in recent years, along with Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL) and Facebook (FB). - 2021 February 1, Rishi Iyengar, “Google will stop making...
Origin
Chosen by Jeff 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.
Derived
Noun human sciences, mysticism
- A member of a mythical race of female warriors inhabiting the Black Sea area.
- When, therefore, one envisions a matriarchy, one should not conjure up visions of a gang of Amazons lopping off breasts and testicles to rule by force of arms. - 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies...
- A female warrior.
- 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 her amazon army against the Portuguese in a series of wars...
- A tall, strong, or athletic woman.
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.
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Noun Entry 4
- Any of the large parrots from the genus Amazona.
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Verb
- To overwhelm or obliterate, in the context of an Internet start-up vastly outperforming its brick and mortar competition.
- 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. - 1998 November 4, George Anders,...
- Venture capitalists' desks are thick with business plans promising ‘we're going to Amazon the insurance/travel/property business...’ - 1999 Aug, Andrew Wileman, “Smart cookies: Get set to Amazon”, in Management Today,...
- 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, Tim Smith,...
- To order (something) on Amazon.
- […] “There are people who Uber everywhere, who Seamless everything, who Amazon everything, and render their lives completely smooth.” - 2025 June 30, Adrienne Matei, quoting Josh Lora, “‘Hey man, I’m so sorry for your...