Amazon
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈæm.ə.zən/
ipa: /ˈæm.əˌzɑn/
ipa: /ˈæm.ə.zɔn/
ipa: /-ɒn/
ipa: /ˈɛm.ə.zɔn/
ipa: /-ɒn/
Forms: form: Amazons
form: Amazoning
form: Amazoned
form: Amazoned
Etymology: Chosen by Jeff Bezos in 1994 as a word beginning with 'A' which had existing connotations (see meanings listed in etymologies 1 & 2) of being exotic, different, and (as the Amazon River) the largest of its kind in the world.
Senses: examples: text: Those who hesitate risk being "amazoned," forfeiting business to an Internet newcomer, in the way that bookstore chains have lost ground to Amazon.com Inc., the online bookseller.
ref: 1998 November 4, George Anders, “Discomfort Zone: Some Big Companies Long to Embrace Web But Settle for Flirtation — They Fear Online Marketing Could Cause Sales Staffs And Distributors to Rebel — A Risk of Getting ‘Amazoned’”, in The Wall Street Journal, page A1:
text: Venture capitalists' desks are thick with business plans promising ‘we're going to Amazon the insurance/travel/property business...’
ref: 1999 Aug, Andrew Wileman, “Smart cookies: Get set to Amazon”, in Management Today, page 79:
text: Take the example of MetalSite.com, which is owned by steel companies. The steel companies aren't getting "Amazoned" by a start-up but, rather, they are doing the "Amazoning" within their own industry.
ref: 1999, Tim Smith, InternetWeek (786), "Getting Customers Totally Integrated – Cisco CIO Pete Solvik", 1999-10-25, p. 98 http://search.proquest.com/docview/226888867
text: Amazon.com may soon be "amazoning" a few more industries.
ref: 1999, "Amazon Expands", InternetWeek (789), 1999-11-15, p. 11 http://search.proquest.com/docview/226901337
text: Gone are the days when they agonized about being "Amazoned", or blind-sided by a dot-com ....
ref: 2000 November 20, Bob Tedeschi, “E-Commerce Report: Web and catalog businesses are crossing into storefront territory, creating parallel avenues of retailing”, in The New York Times, page C12:
text: In other industries, established companies are pulling people and money away from their Internet operations, as their fear of being "Amazoned" by start-ups has subsided.
ref: 2001 July 4, Saul Hansell, “Web Sales of Airline Tickets Are Making Hefty Advances”, in The New York Times, page A1:
text: Meanwhile, traditional companies would be obliterated — "Amazoned" — by Internet upstarts.
ref: 2001 November 18, Steve Lohr, “Gearhead Nation: A Time Out for Technophilia”, in The New York Times, page WK4:
text: "Everybody was afraid of getting Amazoned," Mr. Landan said. "They didn't want to get left behind."
ref: 2002 June 30, Scott Harris, “Roots in Israel, Head in Silicon Valley”, in The New York Times, page B8:
glosses: To overwhelm or obliterate, in the context of an Internet start-up vastly outperforming its brick and mortar competition.
examples: text: […] “There are people who Uber everywhere, who Seamless everything, who Amazon everything, and render their lives completely smooth.”
ref: 2025 June 30, Adrienne Matei, quoting Josh Lora, “‘Hey man, I’m so sorry for your loss’: should you use AI to text?”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
glosses: To order (something) on Amazon.