The River Was Named After the Warriors, Not the Other Way Round
Amazon names a river, a rainforest and a legend. The South American river took its name from a battle a Spanish explorer described.
Amazon names the great South American river and, in Greek legend, a nation of warrior women. The river was named for the legend, not for itself: Francisco de Orellana reported being attacked in 1542 by fighters he took for the Amazons of myth, and the name stuck to the river he was navigating.
- The South American river. *The Amazon basin.*
- The rainforest. *Deforestation in the Amazon.*
- A warrior woman of legend. *The Amazons of myth.*
- A tall, strong woman. *An amazon of a player.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Proper noun | Amazon | The Amazon river. |
| Adjective | Amazonian | Amazonian wildlife. |
| Plural | Amazons | The Amazons of legend. |
| Related | rainforest | Tropical rainforest. |
| Related | basin | The river basin. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The Amazon carries more water than any other river.By discharge, by a wide margin.
- Amazonian species number in the millions.Adjective.
- The Amazons appear throughout Greek art.The legend.
Facts about the river
- Discharge — the largest of any river on earth
- Basin — covers around forty per cent of South America
- Length — rivals the Nile, and the ranking is disputed
- Tributaries — over a thousand feed it
- No bridges — none cross its main stem
From Greek *Amazon*, the name of the legendary warrior nation. An ancient folk etymology read it as *a-mazos*, without breast, but that explanation is not accepted today.
Are there bridges over the Amazon?
None across its main stem. The river is too wide, and the surrounding land is mostly roadless floodplain.
Does the name mean *without breast*?
That was an ancient guess, based on a story about archery. Modern scholars consider it a folk etymology rather than the true origin.