amateur

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

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

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (US):

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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.

3. 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.

4. Someone who is unqualified or insufficiently skillful.

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

• (person attached to a pursuit without pursuing it professionally): hobbyist
• (someone unqualified): dabbler, dilettante, punk

• amateuse
• amatrice

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

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.

• amateurly
• amateur hour
• amateur night

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

Borrowed from French amateur.

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

amateur m or f (masculine and feminine plural amateurs)

1. amateur

amateur m or f by sense (plural amateurs)

1. amateur

   Synonym: aficionat

• “amateur”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “amateur”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “amateur” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.

Borrowed from French amateur.

• IPA^(key): /ˌɑ.maːˈtøːr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ama‧teur

amateur m (plural amateurs, diminutive amateurtje n)

1. amateur

• amateurisme
• amateuristisch

• → Indonesian: amatir
• → Papiamentu: amatùr

Learned borrowing from Latin amātōrem (“lover”), from amō (“to love”). Displaced Old French ameor, which was inherited from the same source but disappeared by the 15th century.

• IPA^(key): /a.ma.tœʁ/

• Audio:

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• Audio (France):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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• Audio (France (Hérault)):

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• Audio (France (Saint-Étienne)):

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• Audio (France (Lyon)):

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• Hyphenation: a‧ma‧teur

amateur m (plural amateurs, feminine amatrice or amateure)

1. lover of something
2. amateur; hobbyist

   Coordinate term: professionnel

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

1. amateur, amateurish

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

• marteau

Unadapted borrowing from French amateur. Doublet of amatore.

• IPA^(key): /a.maˈtør/

amateur m or f by sense

1. amateur (non-professional)

Unadapted borrowing from French amateur. Doublet of amador.

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

amateur m or f (masculine and feminine plural amateurs)

1. amateurish, amateur

   Synonyms: aficionado, chapucero, diletante, novato

amateur m or f by sense (plural amateurs)

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

   Synonym: profano

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.

• “amateur”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025