amateur

See also: Amateur

Contents

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French amateur, from Latin amātōr (“lover”), from amāre (“to love”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈæ.mə.tə/, /ˈæ.mə.tjə/, /ˈæ.mə.tjʊə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈæ.mə.tɚ/, /ˈæ.mə.tʃɚ/, /ˈæ.mə.tʃʊɚ/

• Audio 1 (US)

  (file)

• Audio 2 (US)

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Noun

amateur (plural amateurs)

1. (now rare) A lover of something.
   • 2006, John Hailman, Thomas Jefferson on Wine, University of Mississippi 2006, p. x:

     he conducted extensive correspondence on wines with European suppliers, employing a wine vocabulary familiar to any modern amateur of wines.

2. A person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science as to music or painting; especially one who cultivates any study or art, from taste or attachment, without pursuing it professionally.

   The contest is only open to amateurs.

3. Someone who is unqualified or insufficiently skillful.

   The entire thing was built by some amateurs with screwdrivers and plywood.

Synonyms

(person attached to a pursuit without pursuing it professionally):

• hobbyist

(someone unqualified):

• dilettante, dabbler, punk

Derived terms

• radio amateur

Translations

person attached to a pursuit without pursuing it professionally

• Arabic: هَاوٍ‎ m (hāwin)
• Bashkir: һәүәҫкәр (häwäθkär)
• Bulgarian: аматьор (bg) m (amatjor)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 愛好者 (zh), 爱好者 (zh) (àihàozhě), 業餘者 (zh), 业余者 (zh) (yèyúzhě)

• Czech: amatér (cs) m
• Danish: amatør (da) c
• Dutch: amateur (nl) m or f
• Finnish: harrastaja (fi), amatööri (fi)
• French: amateur (fr) m, amatrice (fr) f
• German: Amateur (de) m, Amateurin f
• Greek: ερασιτέχνης (el) m or f (erasitéchnis)
• Hebrew: חובבן‎ m (khoveván)
• Hindi: शौकिया (hi) m (śaukiyā)
• Hungarian: amatőr (hu), műkedvelő (hu)
• Indonesian: amatir (id)
• Interlingue: amator, dilettante
• Irish: amaitéarach m

• Italian: dilettante (it) m, appassionato (it) m, amateur (it) m, amatore (it) m, hobbista m
• Japanese: アマチュア (ja) (amachua), アマ (ja) (ama)
• Korean: 아마추어 (ko) (amachueo)
• Macedonian: аматер m (amatér), лаик (laik)
• Maori: runaruna
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: amatør m

  Nynorsk: amatør m

• Polish: amator (pl) m
• Portuguese: amador (pt) m
• Romanian: amator (ro) m
• Russian: люби́тель (ru) m (ljubítelʹ), люби́тельница (ru) f (ljubítelʹnica)
• Serbo-Croatian: аматер m, amater (sh) m
• Spanish: amateur (es) m or f, aficionado (es) m
• Swedish: amatör (sv) c
• Turkish: amatör (tr), özenci (tr), özengen (tr)
• Urdu: شوقیہ‎ m (śaukiyā)

someone unqualified

• Czech: amatér (cs) m
• Danish: amatør (da) c
• Finnish: harrastelija (fi), amatööri (fi)
• French: amateur (fr) m, amateuse f
• German: Amateur (de) m, Amateurin f
• Greek: ερασιτέχνης (el) m or f (erasitéchnis)
• Hebrew: חובבן‎ (khoveván)
• Hindi: अनुभवहीन व्यवसायी (Anubhavahīna vyavasāyī)
• Hungarian: amatőr (hu), dilettáns (hu)
• Indonesian: amatir (id)
• Irish: amaitéarach m

• Italian: principiante (it) m, novellino (it) m, inesperto (it) m
• Japanese: しろうと (ja) (shirōto)
• Macedonian: аматер m (amatér)
• Polish: amator (pl) m
• Portuguese: amador (pt) m
• Romanian: amator (ro) m
• Russian: дилета́нт (ru) m (diletánt), дилета́нтка (ru) f (diletántka)
• Serbo-Croatian: amater (sh) m
• Spanish: inadaptado (es) m
• Swedish: amatör (sv) c

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} niet-professioneel
• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} amatoro
• Hebrew: ^{(please verify)} חובבן‎ m (khovevan), ^{(please verify)} חובבנית‎ f (khovevanyt)
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} dilettante (it), ^{(please verify)} non professionista

• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 아마추어 (ko) (amachueo), ^{(please verify)} 비직업 (bijigeob)
• Latin: (Modern Latin) ^{(please verify)} non professionalis, ^{(please verify)} diletans, (Classical Latin) ^{(please verify)} idiota
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} icke-professionell

Adjective

amateur (comparative more amateur, superlative most amateur)

1. Non-professional.
2. Created, done, or populated by amateurs or non-professionals.

   amateur sports

3. Showing a lack of professionalism, experience or talent.

   Duct tape is a sure sign of amateur workmanship.

Translations

nonprofessional — see nonprofessional

created, done, or populated by amateurs or non-professional

• Finnish: amatööri- (fi), harrastaja- (fi)

• Maori: runaruna

showing lack of professionalism, experience or talent

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不專業, 不专业 (bùzhuānyè)

• Finnish: aloittelijamainen, harrastelijamainen (fi)
• German: amateurhaft
• Greek: ερασιτεχνικός (el) (erasitechnikós), κομπογιαννίτικος (el) (kompogiannítikos)
• Hebrew: חובבני‎ (he) m (khovevaní)

• Hungarian: amatőr (hu)
• Irish: amaitéarach
• Persian: آماتور‎ (fa) (âmâtor)
• Portuguese: amador (pt) m, principiante (pt) m or f
• Russian: дилета́нтский (ru) (diletántskij)
• Turkish: acemi (tr), çaylak (tr), amatör (tr)

Derived terms

• amateurly
• amateur hour
• amateur night

Further reading

• “bungler” in Roget's Thesaurus, T. Y. Crowell Co., 1911.
• “ignoramus” in Roget's Thesaurus, T. Y. Crowell Co., 1911.

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Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from French amateur.

Adjective

amateur (masculine and feminine plural amateurs)

1. amateur

Noun

amateur m or f (plural amateurs)

1. amateur

   Synonym: aficionat

Further reading

• “amateur” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “amateur” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “amateur” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.

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French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin amātor (“lover”), from amō (“to love”). Compare Old French ameor, which was inherited from the same source but disappeared by the 15th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.ma.tœʁ/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

amateur m (plural amateurs, feminine amatrice)

1. amateur
2. a lover of something

Adjective

amateur (feminine singular amateur or amateure or amatrice, masculine plural amateurs, feminine plural amateurs or amateures or amatrices)

1. amateur

Descendants

• → Catalan: amateur
• → English: amateur
• → Italian: amateur
• → Spanish: amateur

Further reading

• “amateur” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• marteau

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Italian

Etymology

From French amateur.

Noun

amateur m (invariable)

1. amateur (non-professional)

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Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from French amateur.

Adjective

amateur (plural amateures)

1. amateurish, amateur

Noun

amateur m or f (plural amateures)

1. amateur (person attached to a pursuit without pursuing it professionally)

Synonyms

• aficionado
• chapucero
• diletante
• novato

Related terms

• amateurismo

Further reading

• “amateur” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.