Amazon

Amazon

Amazon¹ [am′ə zän΄, am′əzən]

n.

[L < Gr Amazōn, of unknown orig., but deriv. by folk etym. < a-, without + mazos, breast, hence the story that the Amazons cut off one breast to facilitate archery]

1. Gr. Myth. any of a race of female warriors supposed to have lived in Scythia, near the Black Sea

2. [a-] a tall, strong, aggressive woman

3. a small, greenish parrot (genus Amazona) of Central and South America, often kept as a pet

4. any of a genus (Polyergus) of ants that makes slaves of other ants: also Amazon ant

Amazon² [am′ə zän΄, am′əzən]

[so named by Spaniards, who believed its shores inhabited by female warriors: see AMAZON¹]

river in South America, flowing from the Andes in Peru across N Brazil into the Atlantic: c. 4,000 mi (6,437 km)