Amazon/amazon

in Greek mythology, Amazons were fabulous female warriors. The 1970 edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica explains (although a later edition deletes it): "The only plausible explanation of the story of the Amazons is that it is a variety of the familiar tale of a distant land where everything is done the wrong way about; thus the women fight, which is man's business." Not so in the African Kingdom of Dahomey (today's Republic of Benin) where a female regiment served as combat troops in the 18th and 19th centuries. Dubbed the "Dahomey Amazons" by European observers, these women warriors were renowned for their fighting skill. The word "amazon" is loaded with cultural and historical meanings; it has been used as a pejorative to describe some women, but in other contexts it is a term of respect that women sometimes appropriate for themselves. (The Amazon Bookstore was the first feminist bookstore in the country and operated from 1970 to 2012 in Minneapolis.) Use the term only if you understand its history and multiple connotations. For the casual use of "amazon," meaning a tall, strong, or belligerent woman, substitute those or other descriptive adjectives. See also warrior.