what does the word amazon really mean?

Question

relaible soursces say it means big river. but one of our teachers tried to convince us that it means one breasted. he told us this story of these explorers that went to the "amazon" and found a tribe of warrior women who had only one breast, because they cut one off because it would get in the way of thier archery(shooting bows and arrows). he seemed like he was serious. but my classmates and i are at a loss here because we don't know what to believe. his story was very convincing and other people we know have heard that same story from ohter people. which one is true?

Answer 1

Etymology of "Amazon"
Middle English, from Latin Amzn, from Greek Amazn, probably of Iranian origin

WORD HISTORY:
In classical legend the Amazons were a tribe of warrior women. Their name is supposedly derived from Greek a-mazos, "without a breast," because according to the legend they cut off their right breasts so as to be better able to shoot with a bow and arrow. This folk etymology, like most folk etymologies, is incorrect, but the Amazons of legend are not so completely different from the historical Amazons, who were also warriors. The historical Amazons were Scythians, an Iranian people renowned for their cavalry. The first Greeks to come into contact with the Iranians were the Ionians, who lived on the coast of Asia Minor and were constantly threatened by the Persians, the most important of the Iranian peoples. Amazn is the Ionian Greek form of the Iranian word ha-mazan, "fighting together." The regular Greek form would be hamazn, but because the Ionians dropped their aitches like Cockneys, hamazn became amazn, the form taken into the other Greek dialects.

Answer 2

Amazon Etymology

Answer 3

Well, you're right but so is he in a sense. See, it is a big river in South America, and it's also a group of warrier women in Homer's Iliad.- It's a famous ancient Greek story. The women cut of their right breasts to shoot their bows more effectively.- it does make them sound pretty unlady like, aggressive. Which was Homer's intent- to arouse fear in his readers.

Answer 4

1. a member of a race of female warriors of Greek mythology
2. a tall strong often masculine woman
3. any of a genus (Amazona) of tropical American parrots typically having green plumage marked with other bright colors
4. river about 3900 miles (6276 kilometers) N South America flowing from Peruvian Andes into the Atlantic in N Brazil

Answer 5

"The Greek variant of the name was connected by popular etymology to a- (privative) + mazos, "without breast", connected with an aetiological tradition that Amazons had their right breast cut off or burnt out, in order that they might be able to use the bow more freely; there is no indication of this practice in works of art, in which the Amazons are always represented with both breasts, although the right is frequently covered."

I say no. If they were to cut off their breasts, I doubt they would have a large survival rate.

Answer 6

specific is while there are swear words in the music or that the music is irrelevant... commonly it quite is the unique version of a music, however the clean version ( no swear words and fairly greater ideal) is probable the only which you heard in case you observed it on television. And specific vs clean particularly does exchange the entire meaning of maximum songs... for my section in any case ;P

Answer 7

ya!ur teacher is right .it is a general name for a group of women who had lived in certain part of asia and I read somewhere that they used to fight against greece.

Answer 8

large and aggressive .. try web site

Answer 9

i thought it ment the jungle