Meanings
plural Amazonomachias · plural Amazonomachiae · plural rare Amazonomachiai
- Ancient Greecehuman sciencesA battle with Amazons (“mythical female warriors thought to inhabit the Black Sea region”); also (art), an artistic representation of such a scene.
The Amazonomachia, or Amazon contest, symbolized the struggle of civilization against barbarism.
1990, Camille Paglia, Sexual Personae1 more example
In style these vases have the general Apulian type, and their art is of the same late period. […] Among the subjects are the usual Eros and Aphrodite of this style, Phrixos crossing the Hellespont on the ram, Orestes at Delphi, the sacrifice of the ram of Tantalos, Aktaion seized by his dogs, the burial of Chrysippos, Bellerophon, Meleager and the Kalydonian bear, Herakles and Geryon, the judgment of Paris, the arming of Penthesilea, Europa, the Kentaurs and Amazonomachiai, Omphale, and others of a similar kind.
1873, Samuel Birch, chapter X, in History of Ancient Pottery, Egyptian, Assyrian, Greek, Etruscan, and Roman, new edition, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, pages 422–423Synonyms: Amazonomachy
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA battle with Amazons (“mythical female warriors thought to inhabit the Black Sea region”); also (art), an artistic representation of such a scene.
Origin
- Ancient GreekἈμαζονομᾰχῐ́αι
- Latin-iae
- Pre-Greek
- Proto-Indo-European*meh₂gʰ-“to fight”
- Ancient GreekἈμαζονομᾰχῐ́ᾱ
- GermanAmazonomachie
- FrenchAmazonomachie
- EnglishAmazonomachia
Borrowed from French Amazonomachie or German Amazonomachie, or a direct learned borrowing from their etymon Ancient Greek Ἀμαζονομᾰχῐ́ᾱ (Amazonomăkhĭ́ā), from Ἀμαζών (Amazṓn, “mythical female warrior from the Black Sea region”) (for further etymology see that entry) + μᾰ́χη (mắkhē, “battle, combat”) (either ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂gʰ- (“to fight”) or Pre-Greek) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā, suffix forming feminine abstract nouns). The plural form Amazonomachiae is derived from Amazonomachia + Latin -iae (plural form of -ia), while Amazonomachiai is a learned borrowing from Ancient Greek Ἀμαζονομᾰχῐ́αι (Amazonomăkhĭ́ai).
More words from French, German, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish amazonomakhia
- amazonomakhiabattle with Amazons; artistic representation of such a scene
French amazonomachie
- amazonomachiebattle with Amazons; artistic representation of such a scene
German Amazonomachie
- Amazonomachiebattle with Amazons; artistic representation of such a scene
Italian amazzonomachia
- amazzonomachiabattle with Amazons; artistic representation of such a scene
Portuguese amazonomaquia
- amazonomaquiabattle with Amazons; artistic representation of such a scene
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with Amazonomachia
All rhymes →Cite this entry
Amazonomachia. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Amazonomachia
“Amazonomachia.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Amazonomachia. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Amazonomachia,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Amazonomachia.
Source: Amazonomachia on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.