amateur

See also: Amateur

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈæ.mə.tə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈæ.mə.tɚ/, /ˈæ.mə.t͡ʃɚ/, /ˈæ.mə.t͡ʃʊɚ/

• Audio 1 (US)

  (file)

• Audio 2 (US)

  (file)

Noun

amateur (plural amateurs)

1. (now rare) A lover of something.
   • 2006, John Hailman, Thomas Jefferson on Wine, University of Mississippi, published 2006, page 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, science, or art (such as music or painting), especially one who cultivates any study, interest, taste, or attachment without engaging in 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): dabbler, dilettante, punk

Derived terms

• amateurish
• amateurism
• amateurization
• amateurize
• amateurship
• Ammie
• radio amateur
• shamateur

 

Related terms

• amateuse
• amatrice

Translations

person attached to a pursuit without pursuing it professionally

• Albanian: amator (sq) m
• Arabic: هَاوٍ m (hāwin), هَاوِيَة f (hāwiya)
• Armenian: սիրողական (hy) (siroġakan)
• Azerbaijani: həvəskar (az)
• Bashkir: һәүәҫкәр (həwəśkər)
• Belarusian: ама́тар m (amátar), ама́тарка f (amátarka), любі́цель m (ljubícjelʹ), любі́целька f (ljubícjelʹka), любі́цельніца f (ljubícjelʹnica), ахво́тнік m (axvótnik), ахво́тніца f (axvótnica)
• Bulgarian: аматьо́р (bg) m (amatjór), аматьо́рка f (amatjórka), люби́тел (bg) m (ljubítel), люби́телка f (ljubítelka)
• Cherokee: ᎠᎴᏂᏍᎩ (alenisgi)
• Chinese:

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

• Czech: amatér (cs) m, amatérka f
• Danish: amatør (da) c
• Dutch: amateur (nl) m or f
• Esperanto: amatoro
• Estonian: amatöör (et), asjaarmastaja (et)
• Finnish: harrastaja (fi), amatööri (fi)
• French: amateur (fr) m, amatrice (fr) f
• Georgian: მოყვარული (moq̇varuli)
• German: Amateur (de) m, Amateurin (de) f, Laie (de) m, Laiin (de) f, Liebhaber (de) m
• Greek: ερασιτέχνης (el) m or f (erasitéchnis)
• Hebrew: חוֹבְבָן m (khoveván)
• Hindi: शौकिया (hi) m (śaukiyā), अव्यवसायी (hi) m (avyavsāyī)
• Hungarian: amatőr (hu), műkedvelő (hu)
• Indonesian: amatir (id)
• 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)
• Kazakh: әуесқой (äuesqoi)
• Khmer: អ្នកចូលចិត្ត (nĕək coul cət)
• Korean: 아마추어 (ko) (amachueo), 비직업 (bijigeop)
• Kyrgyz: өзөнчү (özöncü)
• Ladino: aferrado, amator (Monastir)
• Latvian: amatieris (lv) m
• Lithuanian: mėgėjas m
• Macedonian: амате́р m (amatér), амате́рка f (amatérka), ла́ик m (láik), љу́бител m (ljúbitel), љуби́телка f (ljubítelka)
• Malay: amatur
• Maori: runaruna, ringarapa
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: amatør m

  Nynorsk: amatør m

• Persian: آماتور (fa) (âmâtor), هوسکار (havaskâr), غیرحرفه‌ای (ğeyr-e-herfe-ye)
• Polish: amator (pl) m, amatorka f
• Portuguese: amador (pt) m
• Romanian: amator (ro) m, amatoare (ro) f
• Russian: люби́тель (ru) m (ljubítelʹ), люби́тельница (ru) f (ljubítelʹnica)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ама̀те̄р m, ама̀те̄рка f, љу̀битељ m, љубитѐљица f

  Roman: amàtēr (sh) m, amàtērka (sh) f, ljùbitelj (sh) m, ljubitèljica (sh) f

• Slovak: amatér m, amatérka f
• Slovene: amater m, amaterka f, ljubitelj (sl) m, ljubiteljica f
• Spanish: amateur (es) m or f, aficionado (es) m, diletante (es)
• Swedish: amatör (sv) c
• Tajik: ҳаваскор (havaskor), ҳаводор (havodor)
• Tatar: һәвәскәр (tt) (häwäskär)
• Thai: มือสมัครเล่น (mʉʉ-sà-màk-lên)
• Turkish: amatör (tr), özenci (tr), özengen (tr)
• Ukrainian: ама́тор (uk) m (amátor), ама́торка (uk) f (amátorka), люби́тель m (ljubýtelʹ), люби́телька f (ljubýtelʹka)
• Urdu: شوقیہ m (śauqiyā)
• Uyghur: ھەۋەسكار (heweskar)
• Uzbek: havaskor (uz)
• Vietnamese: tài tử (vi), nghiệp dư (vi)

someone unqualified

• Czech: amatér (cs) m, amatérka f
• Danish: amatør (da) c
• Dutch: amateur (nl) m
• Finnish: harrastelija (fi), amatööri (fi)
• French: amateur (fr) m, amateuse (fr) f
• Georgian: დილეტანტი (dileṭanṭi), არაპროფესიონალი (araṗropesionali)
• German: Amateur (de) m, Amateurin (de) f, Dilettant (de) m, Stümper (de) m
• Greek: ερασιτέχνης (el) m or f (erasitéchnis)
• Hebrew: חוֹבְבָן m (khoveván)
• Hindi: अनुभवहीन व्यवसायी (anubhavhīn vyavsāyī)
• 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: амате́р m (amatér), амате́рка f (amatérka)
• Maori: runaruna, ringarapa
• Polish: amator (pl) m, amatorka f
• Portuguese: amador (pt) m
• Romanian: amator (ro) m, amatoare (ro) f
• Russian: дилета́нт (ru) m (diletánt), дилета́нтка (ru) f (diletántka)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ама̀те̄р m, ама̀те̄рка f

  Roman: amàtēr (sh) m, amàtērka (sh) f

• Spanish: inadaptado (es) m
• Swedish: amatör (sv) c
• Thai: มือสมัครเล่น (mʉʉ-sà-màk-lên)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. 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 (khovevanit)
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} dilettante (it), ^{(please verify)} non professionista
• Latin: (Modern Latin) ^{(please verify)} non professionalis, ^{(please verify)} diletans, (Classical Latin) ^{(please verify)} idiota
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} icke-professionell

See also

• (someone unqualified or insufficiently qualified):
  • layperson
  • nonexpert
  • nonspecialist

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.

Derived terms

• amateur press association
• amateur radio

 

Derived terms

• amateurly
• amateur hour
• amateur night

Translations

nonprofessional — see nonprofessional

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

• Armenian: սիրողական (hy) (siroġakan)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 業餘／业余 (zh) (yèyú)

• Finnish: amatööri- (fi), harrastaja- (fi)
• Maori: runaruna
• Polish: amatorski (pl)
• Thai: สมัครเล่น (sà-màk-lên)

showing lack of professionalism, experience or talent

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不專業／不专业 (bùzhuānyè)

• Finnish: aloittelijamainen, harrastelijamainen (fi)
• Georgian: სამოყვარულო (samoq̇varulo)
• German: amateurhaft
• Greek: ερασιτεχνικός (el) (erasitechnikós), κομπογιαννίτικος (el) (kompogiannítikos)
• Hebrew: חובבני (he) m (khovevaní)
• Hungarian: amatőr (hu)
• Irish: amaitéarach
• Persian: آماتور (fa) (âmâtor)
• Polish: amatorski (pl)
• Portuguese: amador (pt) m, principiante (pt) m or f
• Russian: дилета́нтский (ru) (diletántskij)
• Turkish: acemi (tr), çaylak (tr), amatör (tr)

Further reading

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

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from French amateur.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ə.məˈter]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) unknown
• IPA^(key): (Valencian) [a.maˈter]

Adjective

amateur m or f (masculine and feminine plural amateurs)

1. amateur

Noun

amateur m or f by sense (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, 2024
• “amateur” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French amateur.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌɑ.maːˈtøːr/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ama‧teur

Noun

amateur m (plural amateurs, diminutive amateurtje n)

1. amateur

Derived terms

• amateurisme
• amateuristisch

Descendants

• → Indonesian: amatir
• → Papiamentu: amatùr

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin amātōrem (“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; hobbyist

   Coordinate term: professionnel

2. lover of something

Adjective

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

1. amateur, amateurish

Descendants

• → Catalan: amateur
• → Czech: amatér
• → Danish: amatør
• → Dutch: amateur
  • → Indonesian: amatir
  • → Papiamentu: amatùr
• → English: amateur
• → German: Amateur
• → Italian: amateur
• → Polish: amator
• → Romanian: amator
• → Spanish: amateur
• → Swedish: amatör
• → Turkish: amatör
• → Vietnamese: a-ma-tơ

Further reading

• “amateur”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• marteau

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French amateur. Doublet of amatore.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.maˈtør/

Noun

amateur m or f by sense

1. amateur (non-professional)

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French amateur. Doublet of amador.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /amaˈteɾ/ [a.maˈt̪eɾ]
  • Rhymes: -eɾ
• IPA^(key): /amaˈteuɾ/ [a.maˈt̪eu̯ɾ]
  • Rhymes: -euɾ
  • Syllabification: a‧ma‧teur

Adjective

amateur m or f (masculine and feminine plural amateurs)

1. amateurish, amateur

   Synonyms: aficionado, chapucero, diletante, novato

Noun

amateur m or f by sense (plural amateurs)

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

Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Related terms

• amateurismo

 

Further reading

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