Origin of the name

Origin of the name
The Amazon was initially known by Europeans as the Marañón, and the Peruvian part of the river is still known by that name today. It later became known as Rio Amazonas in Spanish and Portuguese, and Amazon River in English.

The name Rio Amazonas was reportedly given after native warriors attacked a 16th-century expedition by Francisco de Orellana. The warriors were led by women, reminding de Orellana of the Amazon warriors, a tribe of women warriors related to Irani

an Scythians and Sarmatians[16][17] mentioned in Greek mythology. The word Amazon itself may be derived from the Iranian compound *ha-maz-an- “(one) fighting together”[18] or ethnonym *ha-mazan- “warriors”, a word attested indirectly throu

gh a derivation, a denominal verb in Hesychius of Alexandria’s gloss “ἁμαζακάραν· πολεμεῖν. Πέρσαι” (“hamazakaran: ‘to make war’ in Persian”), where it appears together with the Indo-Iranian root *kar- “make” (from which Sanskrit karma is also derived).[19]

However, other scholars insist that the name is derived from the Native American word amassona, meaning “boat destroyer.”[20]