Amateur

How to spell amateur

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce amateur

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does amateur mean?

1. nounA person who does something for pleasure or interest rather than as a paid professional.
2. adjectiveDone by or relating to people who are unpaid and not professional.

Amateur in a sentence

• noun

  As a keen amateur, he photographed weddings for friends without charging a fee.

• adjective

  The local amateur dramatic society stages two productions every year.

• noun

  The chess club welcomes every amateur regardless of skill or experience.

• adjective

  He plays in an amateur football league on Sunday mornings.

Where does amateur come from?

Language of origin: French

The word comes from the French amateur, meaning 'lover of' or 'enthusiast', which English adopted in the middle of the 1700s. The French noun descends directly from the Latin amator, 'a lover', built on the verb amare, 'to love', so an amateur was originally simply someone who pursued an activity out of love for it rather than for payment. The same amare root sits inside familiar relatives such as 'amorous', 'amateur', and the name 'Amanda' (literally 'fit to be loved'). Only later, in the 1800s, did the word pick up its slightly dismissive shade, implying a lack of professional skill. The spelling preserves its French dress almost intact, and that unusual -eur ending, kept from French rather than anglicised to -er, is exactly the trap that catches careful writers.

How the word is built

• amat- (from Latin amare: to love)
• -eur (French agent-noun suffix)