amazon

See also: Amazon

English

Etymology

From Amazon, from Ancient Greek Ἀμαζών (Amazṓn).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈæm.ə.zən/
• (General American, dialects of Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈæm.əˌzɑn/, [ˈɛəm.əˌzɑn]

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (Canada, dialects of the US) IPA^(key): /ˈæm.əˌzɒn/, [ˈɛəm.əˌzɒn]
• (General Australian, New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈæm.ə.zɔn/, /-ɒn/
• (Indic) IPA^(key): /əmezɔn/

Noun

amazon (plural amazons)

1. A tall, strong, athletic woman.

   Although the evidence for real Amazons is thin, women athletes are often dubbed amazons.

2. (chess) A fairy chess piece which combines the moves of the queen and the knight.
   • 2010 August 21, G. P. Jelliss, “Simple Chess Variants”, in Mayhematics‎, page 8:

     In Triple-guard promotion chess (GPJ) a pawn newly triple-guarded by pieces other than pawns promotes to the combined value of the guarding pieces. Thus after b3 in the opening position a3 promotes to amazon, R+B+N, from triple guard by Ra1, Nb1, Bc1.

   • 2018 October 12, aabicus, “My 7 Favorite Fairy Chess Pieces”, in The Daily SPUF‎:

     The amazon is simply a queen-knight hybrid, capable of moving as either piece.

3. An amazon parrot.
4. 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.

   Antonym: mating press

Derived terms

• glamazon
• orange-winged amazon
• yellow-headed amazon
• yellow-naped amazon

Related terms

• Amazonian
• amazonian

Translations

tall, strong, athletic woman

Catalan: amazona (ca) f Finnish: amatsoni (fi) French: amazone (fr) f Greek: αμαζόνα (el) f (amazóna) Irish: banghaiscíoch m Italian: amazzone (it) f Portuguese: amazona (pt) f Scottish Gaelic: ban-laoch f Spanish: amazona (es) f Swedish: amason (sv) c

fairy chess piece

parrot — see amazon parrot

sexual position

Further reading

• “amazon”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• Amazon (chess) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• S. Emmerson, A Glossary of Fairy Chess Definitions